4d ago

What are these bugs in my garden?

Aphids of some sort? They're all over my patty pan squash and pumpkins. It's too late to save them this year (the plants are dead / yucky now) but I do want to know if I should get rid of them, somehow, and how to keep them from coming back next year.

EDIT: OK, so it seems either these are annoying Squash bugs and I should just cleanup this year, then watch better next tear. OR, they're BM Stink bugs, the spawn of Satan, and I'm doomed to sleep with the unkilkable beasts forever now. Neat. Does it help to know they're ignoring my tomatoes and peppers?

Thanks!

13 comments

They look like squash bugs. Horrible evil things. Next time, check under the leaves for little orange spherical eggs and smoosh them all. https://www.almanac.com/pest/squash-bugs
- Squash bugs are a plague. Spray them with insecticidal soap or a mixture of dawn dish washing liquid. They will die virtually on contact. Planting varieties that those bugs hate is a good solution.
I've dealt with multiple seasons of squash bugs and they are intense to manage, and you have a lot on that one pumpkin, you've probably had them a while and they've had plenty of time to lay eggs and multiply. They will over winter in the soil so make sure to clean up the garden beds of all debris as much as possible after the growing season and consider moving your squash elsewhere or don't grow them at all for a year or two.
We've tried all sorts of different methods at controlling them: wood boards on the ground, picking eggs manually, picking individual bugs manually, insecticidal soap, synthetic pesticides, but once you have that many adults showing you're in a bad spot. The best way to get rid of them is in egg or nymph stage. Eggs can be easily removed from leaves using tape and nymphs will die with castile soap sprays, but you have to stay consistent with inspection and prevention for most the season.
We eventually decided to not grow squash for two seasons. We're just wrapping up summer #1 of no squash, one more to go....
Good luck!
- Super helpful - thank you for the solid advice! And yah, I am planning on not growing any next yeaqr (and I guess the year after that, now that you mention it).
Those look like Halyomorpha halys:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug
If you live in the US or anywhere else where they are invasive you should consider murdering them.
- Oof. Uh oh.
Squash bugs, a friend of mine looks through the stems and stabs them with a toothpick. It's a lot of work
- On a squash no less.
Good picture!
https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2020/12/uninvited-pests.html
Squash bugs, not stink bugs. Still a pest.
- Oh thank you! I'll take this as a win nonetheless.
Auf der Mauer auf der Lauer liegt 'ne kleine Wanze. Seht euch mal die Wanze an, wie die Wanze tanzen kann!
Auf der Mauer auf der Lauer liegt 'ne kleine Wanze.
https://redemptionpermaculture.com/12-organic-methods-for-controlling-squash-bugs/
- Thanks for this. I'm going to try the board/trap method and see how that goes. They creep me way out but I should be able to do this, I think.

13 comments