Squash Bugs

Last night I found some mating bugs on my zucchini plants. They were pretty unsavory looking creatures so I grabbed them and squished them with my spade. Recently, I've had a hard time killing bugs because I felt sorry for them but for some reason I instinctively smashed them without giving it a second thought.

This morning after further discussion with one of my colleagues and fellow gardening friend, we've realized that what I saw was most likely a squash bug. Makes perfect sense as to why I saw them on my zucchinis.

  

Luckily, I killed them while they were mating so I've stopped them in their procreating tracks (though I'm sure there are more). This week I'll be on operation kill squash bugs. I read that the best way to handle them is to pick them off individually and place them in a soapy bucket of water. As for the eggs (which are laid on the underside of all cucurbit plants (squash, cucumbers, melons, etc.), they need to be smashed so that will take time to check and take care of on a leaf by leaf basis.

Keep watch for these little nasties.

Daphne