![]() Adult squash bugs move into vine crops in June and early July to mate and lay eggs. There is one generation per year in the Northeast, and the complete life cycle requires 6-8 weeks. Adults may also over winter in crop residues in the field. Sheltered and protected areas such as field borders, woods edges, brush or wood piles provided a home for unmated adults through the winter. Nymphs become light gray, then darker gray to brown and more solitary as they grow and molt through five nymphal stages. Newly hatched nymphs are light green when small, with a brown head and dark legs, and are usually found in groups. Yellow to bronze colored eggs are laid on the underside of leaves, often in the junction of leaf veins, in an orderly cluster and hatch in 7-10 days in summer conditions. Adults are long-lived and lay eggs over several weeks. ![]() ![]() The edge of the abdomen is marked with alternate gold and brown patches. Adults frequently shelter beneath debris in the field at night, and it’s common to see many bugs congregated beneath a squash fruit in the field. Identification:Īdults are 0.5 to 0.75 of an inch long, flattened and grayish-brown. Squash bugs are a type of true bug, a group that also includes other pests like the native brown stink bug and brown marmorated stink bug, as well as beneficial insects like the spined soldier bug. Squash bugs can cause both leaf and fruit injury if numbers are high. Their favorite host plants are summer squash and zucchini, especially when these plants are large and provide ample food, shelter, and egg-laying sites. Typically squash bugs do not reach pest levels in vine crops however, it is a pest of growing concern in New England, where growers have found high numbers and resulting crop damage in recent years. Adult squash bugs ( Anasa tristis) are flat, gray-brown, and usually found on the underside of leaves or in cracks in the soil. ![]()
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