Bug IDStill trying to figure out what is destroying my squash...

I know the Mexican Bean Beetles are attacking my plants, but I discovered these infant insects this morning and am looking for an ID. Are they also contributing to the destruction? Thank you!

Absolutely! They are squash bugs. There's a lot of ways to try to get rid of them but they multiply sooo fast it is hard to keep up with them.
1. Take scotch tape and look under the leaves and let the eggs stick to the tape. Destroy the tape.
2. Spray with Pyrethium based prduct. Spray on the vines near the base of the plant as that is where they hang out in the heat of the day.
3. Do something right now or your plant will be a goner.
3. Can use a lighter to burn the eggs off of the plants.

They are definitely squash bugs and they are there to tell you your squash plant is about to die lol.

I'm sure there are chemicals you can use to kill them, but I have never found an organic solution that works. You can try to find the eggs on the leaves and destroy them like birder17 stated, but I have never been able to find any eggs.

Squirting them with watered-down dish soap seems to just make them laugh at me. It does nothing to them because they are hard on the topside. You have to hit them on their underside to kill them with it and that is difficult and time consuming. They actually sense or see you coming at them and they crawl sideways and hide behind the the other side of the stem they are on. It's actually quite interesting, albeit frustrating.

Truth be told, if your plant is looking sickly already due to bug damage, there is no real point in trying to save it anyway. I combat squash bugs by planting a lot of squash and letting them have their way with them while I harvest as much as I can get before they kill the plants completely. I have the room so it is easy for me, but for those that don't have the room for a lot of squash plants, I feel for ya.

This message was edited Jun 12, 2018 11:26 PM

The usual method seems to be 'put a lid on it', meaning row covers of course. I've found that that reduces pollination, though, and isn't effective at all in a smaller home garden. Birder17 is right about destroying the eggs, but I'd say you should gather any affected plant material and put it in a burn bin. It will somewhat reduce the pest load, and it'll be really satisfying.

How about powdering with diatomaceous earth. Organic & all.

These are in stars of squash bugs. There are stages of insect growth and these are immature bugs. They suck/pierce usually injecting pathogens into the plant, killing it.

Be careful spraying as bees can be killed by chemicals. Can use ashes on plants to drive them away.