Squash Bugs

Here is information on squash bugs and getting rid of them.

Here is a squash bug I found on the pumpkin plant growing in the compost bucket.  Squash bugs have a needle like mouth (like a mosquito) They suck the nutrients out of the plant.  They can suck it out of any part of the plant, but I find them mostly at the base of the plant.

This is what I use to pick them up with.  I'm not about to touch them, so I take Hubby's pliers and pick them off the plants.
This is actually squash bug number two.  I only found one easily, so after I eliminated the first one I pored a two gallon bucket full of water into the compost bucket with the pumpkin plant and three more raced up the vines.

Here are a group of squash bug eggs.  They are usually where the veins meet on the bottom side of the leaves.

I tried to smash them with the pliers, but didn't get them all.  For some reason I can uses my bare fingers to smash the eggs, but not the bugs no matter what their size.

Another leaf with more eggs.  If the leaf has clusters of eggs at every intersection of veins I will sometimes just cut the entire leaf off and toss it into the trash.

This dead leaf and stock were lying on the ground, but still attached to the plant. I just pulled the entire thing off.

Check everywhere that is out of sight, this part of the plant has another plant leaning against it, so the eggs were hidden.

This plants leans sideways in the pot and this side is against the soil.  Search everywhere and smash those eggs.

I did not find any baby squash bugs.

Now for other ways to get rid of squash bugs:

This is a cucumber plant.
I put copper around the base of the plants.  I got a long length of sticky backed copper from my dad.  It is about 30 years old.  There is no sticky left on it, but the paper is dried to the back. I have no idea where you would find something like this now, especially at the current price of copper.

Here is a Blue Hubbard squash plant.
As you can see I put the copper strips very close to the base of the plants.  For some reason squash bugs will not cross over the copper.
Before I got the copper I tried several rows of pennies around the base of the plant and that did nothing.  So if you use pennies you need a lot.  My copper strips are about 3" wide.

Diatomaceous Earth can be sprinkled on the ground where any pesky bugs are. Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of tiny aquatic organisms.  It is very fine like a powder, but actually has sharp edges all around it.  It causes insects to dry out and die by absorbing the oils and fats from the cuticle of the insect's exoskeleton. Its sharp edges are abrasive, speeding up the process. It remains effective as long as it is kept dry and undisturbed.
I got the information on Diatomaceous earth  HERE if you want more detail about it.
Diatomaceous earth works best on soft bodied insects.  The babies are soft bodied, but they develop a hard shell as they turn into adults.

Duct tape made into a loop around your fingers with the sticky side out can be used to pick up a large group of baby squash bugs quickly.  It doesn't work as well on the eggs that are next to the veins on the leaves and it can also pull off a chunk of leaf.

Dawn dish detergent added to water can be used to spray the eggs and baby squash bugs.  In a two quart bottle put no more than 1/2 inch of dish soap and the rest of the bottle filled with water and spray until the eggs and babies are soaked.  Spray early in the morning or late in the evening.  If the leaves turn brown where they were sprayed it is, because it was too hot and the leaf burned or there is too much detergent in the bottle.

You can also put damp rolled up sections of newspaper next to the plants and they will go under or in the paper.  This works really good for earwigs.  They go in there when it is dark.  First thing in the morning you have to get outside, pick up the paper and throw it in the trash.  If you don't get outside early enough they will have all left the newspaper.  This is my least favorite non-chemical way.

Insecticidal soap can be sprayed on them.  This works best of soft bodied bugs too.  You can make your own insecticidal soap, but my understanding is that the harder your water is the less effective the soap will be.  Someone give it a try and let me know your results.

If you are really desperate and feel like they have gotten beyond your control you can use Sevin.  I personally do not use this product.  You must read the label very carefully.  Produce sprayed with this product have a minimum number of days you must wait after spraying before the produce can harvested.  That is creepy to me.  The product does work though.

The best and easiest way to get rid of squash bugs is by having toads.  The toads will eat them all.  To keep a toad or two around you must have a cool, dry, damp, dark place for them to go to at all times.