The Squash Bugs Are Here, The Squash Bugs Are Here!!

I was harvesting when I saw this vile little bugger, my first squash bug. Since it was laying eggs when I caught it (see the eggs circled in red),  I knew that there are obviously 2 squash bugs around.

I smashed this squash bug against the wood bed.  Squash bugs are related to stink bugs and give off a disagreeable odor when smashed.  I then smashed each egg – I scraped them off the leaf with my finger nail and then smashed each egg.

A couple of days later, I noticed two adult squash bugs around the stems of a squash plant in another bed.  I have not seen any mass hatching of nymphs.  When those egg clusters hatch, the nymphs stay together for a while, feeding on the under side of the leaf.  This causes bleached-out looking clusters of tiny spots on the top of the leaf.  This is a sign that must be watched for so that the baby squash bug nymphs can be smushed.  Squash bugs don’t have any known predators, so the gardener must take care of them.  If they get out of hand, I like to sprinkle sevin dust around the stems of the squash plants – being careful to keep the sevin away from blossoms so that bees are not affected.  I don’t anticipate a troubling population of squash bugs this season, but next spring may be another story.