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Found inside the main trunk of my butternut squash. Unknown to me previously, I soon discovered that they're very keen on locating squash plants & eating through the vines, inside out. Once signs of the borers are present, it is too late to save the plant.
One more bug. The borer is the larva of a Moth (Lepidoptera) and there is also a squash bug (True bug - hemiptera). It lays eggs on the underside of the leaves and on the stems regardless of when it blooms. These larva hatch and eat leaves and fruit. So watch for those eggs and just wipe them off. Please add this spotting to my mission Caterpillars and Larvae of the Southwest United States: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/1142...
I have used both methods everywhere I have lived - including here in Texas. You do not have to give up on squash, cucumber or melons. Both methods do a good job. Light weight row cover even works when we have bad grasshopper seasons.
Thanks for the tip! We've been trying to stick with organic growing & have been very reluctant to use chemicals, so we suspected we'd have to give up on squash.
If you wish to prevent these borers by mechanical means not chemical, you can put a floating row cover on your crop until the female flowers bloom. If not practical, then wrap strip of panty hose around the base of newly planted / emerged seedlings. Try to wrap the stems at least 1 inch down in soil and 1 inch above soil (harder than row cover). The vine borer usually lays her on the soil next to the new seedlings or on the stem at the soil line. When they hatch they
they burrow into the vine. Usually after the first female flower is ready the stem is too tough to bore into by the small larva.
Spotted on Jun 3, 2012
Submitted on Jul 24, 2012
