Squash Bug (Anasa tristis)

Order: Hemiptera (he-MIP-ter-a) (Info) Family: Coreidae Genus: Anasa Species: tristis Profile: No positives 2 neutrals 16 negatives Regional... This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: , Tuscaloosa, Alabama Glendale, Arizona Phoenix, Arizona Sonoita, Arizona Conway, Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas Jonesboro, Arkansas Chico, California Reseda, California Paonia, Colorado Osprey, Florida Palm Bay, Florida Boise, Idaho Ottumwa, Iowa Baton Rouge, Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana Bowie, Maryland East Jordan, Michigan Cottage Grove, Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota Blue Springs, Missouri Marshfield, Missouri Maryville, Missouri Las Vegas, Nevada Albuquerque, New Mexico (2 reports) Corrales, New Mexico Averill Park, New York North Collins, New York Clemmons, North Carolina Ellenboro, North Carolina Batavia, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Kenton, Ohio Mantua, Ohio Agra, Oklahoma Cushing, Oklahoma Salina, Oklahoma Talihina, Oklahoma Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Rockton, Pennsylvania Gallatin, Tennessee Iron City, Tennessee Louisville, Tennessee Chandler, Texas El Paso, Texas Fate, Texas Gladewater, Texas Ingram, Texas Iowa Park, Texas Irving, Texas Lampasas, Texas Nevada, Texas New Caney, Texas Odessa, Texas Quinlan, Texas Waller, Texas Arlington, Virginia Chesapeake, Virginia Lexington, Virginia Nellysford, Virginia Richmond, Virginia South Boston, Virginia Yakima, Washington Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Negative Xenomorf On Jul 25, 2006, Xenomorf from Valley of the Sun, AZ (Zone 9b) wrote: This bug is not good for your squash garden. It eats the leaves. Squish the eggs and bugs whenever possible. Negative matt5797 On Jul 30, 2006, matt5797 from Gallatin, TN (Zone 6b) wrote: This bug is devastating if left on squash plants. At first, they may be noticed greedily feeding, with no visible plant problems--They look much like a stink bug and carry the odor also. The plant then starts to lose its older leaves, and younger leaves may wilt and turn yellow toward their edges. While the plant is still at least one half unharmed, you must hit them with Sevin or another harsh pesticide or your squash plant will likely die. Apply in dry conditions so the pesticide remains active for hours and make sure you get the whole plant. Pay attention to the undersides of the leaves. Organic sprays are usually no match for the hardy bug. Negative city_of_refuge On Jul 31, 2006, city_of_refuge from Chesapeake, VA wrote: I had some beautiful hollyhocks that were doing really well. I started noticing that the leaves were starting to turn brown and die. I don't know if the heat did them in (the seeds came from my father's hollyhocks in Vermont) and I never researched to see if they could stand the weather here in Virginia. I did find these bugs all over the leaves though, as well as their eggs. I killed as many as I could, bugs and eggs. Maybe I was too late. I saved a couple of the bugs--put them in a jar. I was going to try to find out what they were. Now I know, thanks to this site! I lost that patch of hollyhocks--I do have others growing though. Hopefully they'll bloom this year! Thanks for the informative site. Neutral calicorkication On Aug 1, 2006, calicorkication from Jonesboro, AR wrote: This bug has been responsible for killing most of my squash crop, including scallop, crookneck, and zucchini. I rarely see them on my melons or cucumbers but I have read they will attack any cucurbit family plants. I have also read some companion plants will deter or repel these bugs but I am just now planting them so I have nothing to report on results yet. Two of the plants I am trying are nasturtium and tansy. Negative cm101746 On Aug 24, 2006, cm101746 from Bowie, MD wrote: I had the most prolific cucumber crop last year and this year I had a total of 4 cukes from a ton of plants due to the evil Squash Bug. I went away for a short vacation and noticed when I returned that my cucumbers were over-run by Squash Bugs. What a mess! Luckily I got them away from most of the tomatoes and other plants. I yanked all my cuke plants and am trying to replant at this late date. We get veggies until the late fall so I may be able to recover some crop. Does anyone have a favorite bug killer I could use on these little beasts? Negative wildlifer On Aug 25, 2006, wildlifer from Nashville, TN (Zone 6b) wrote: Found 2 of these on my Grandiflora Flying Saucer Coreopsis early summer 2006 here in Nashville, TN. Wasn't sure what they were at first or if they were a good or bad bug, but after watching, noticed them sucking on the stems of new growth. Picked them both off & researched. The coreopsis did fine this summer with regular deadheading & I've not seen any more of these bugs, but will be on the lookout now & in the future. Negative rundown On Sep 3, 2006, rundown from Maryville, MO wrote: These guys r nasty!! Went on a trip for 10 days, came home to wilted zucs, buttercups, butternut...these armoured $ob's were even sucking on the "fruit", causeing funky shaped cuc's and skabby patches on the winter squash. I got down to thier level and noticed it was a baby boom!! Nymphs & eggs everywere! I'm going to try to "heat sanitize" the soil this fall and again next spring...it's got to help...it can't get much worse!! Negative kennedyh On Sep 8, 2006, kennedyh from Churchill, Victoria Australia (Zone 10a) wrote: This comment was passed to me by a non-subscriber: "You might want to pass along this tip . Put some boards all around the plants. For some reason the squash bugs like to live under them. This way it is easy to catch them. ~~~Jeff~~~" Negative stephaniadawn On Jan 9, 2007, stephaniadawn from Agra, OK wrote: once it finishes with your squash and runs out of that it will move on to other plants. it devistated most of my garden one year. only thing that i have found will get rid of them is picking oand squashing and spray with polya from gardens alive. they lay there eggs on underside of leaves. i remove leave an burn. also spray all heavly with poyla. Negative Raine_Bradford On Mar 2, 2007, Raine_Bradford from Paonia, CO wrote: Once squash bugs find your garden, they are going to be there permanently, as they winter over in protected areas nearby. That's the bad news. The good news is that they can be controlled to the extent that they don't ruin your cucurbits. The best way to control these nasty predators is to start before you see them. Use sevin dust on your plants once the plants are just a few inches tall. Weekly applications will insure survival of your plants. If you are worried about staying organic, rotenone will also work, but it doesn't kill the adults. So you have to really stay on top of the spraying. Unless you have a very small garden or lots of time on your hands, forget hand picking the bugs. Negative sassymomma On Mar 27, 2007, sassymomma from Spring, TX wrote: I had over 32 Tomatoe plants in my garden last year and lost well over half of them to this bug. I was unaware that they would attack tomatoes....... This year I am thinking of planting a sacrifice crop. Negative Pamgarden On Jul 26, 2008, Pamgarden from Central, VA (Zone 7b) wrote: Wish I'd known about these before they completely ruined my beautiful pumpkins and squash. One day the plants were gloriously healthy with many flowers and fruits, the next the leaves looked wilted, and within a week everything was brown and crunchy. Negative dovey On Sep 5, 2008, dovey from Columbus, OH (Zone 5b) wrote: These things are devastating, we had several healthy squash plants and one huge pumpkin plant. In a matter of days the plants were over run with squash bugs. We trimmed off leaves with eggs on the backside and sprayed with neem... 10 out of 12 squash plants have died. I'm ready to dig up the last 2 just to be rid of the bugs. After some research this is what I found regarding organic control. Organic Control: There are few if any effective organic control options for squash bug. However, natural enemies of the squash bug include Tachinid fly, Trishopoda pennipes and Sceleonids, Eumicrosoma spp. These biological control options may prove useful. Sabadilla may provide some control and is organic certified. Apparently Neem Oil is not the answer. Negative jadira On Sep 6, 2008, jadira from Mantua, OH (Zone 5b) wrote: I found this bug this summer on my first ever crop of pumpkins. Nasty. They have turned leaves brown and even munched on the fruit itself, although this could also be slug damage. (According to Dept of Entomology at U. of Minnesota, anasa tristis will even eat the fruit. http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/cucs/squabug.htm) See my photos! I haven't yet decided how I will manage them other than with boards and cleaning up debris. I hesitate to spray since this will also kill pollinators. Negative Ladypearl On Jan 22, 2009, Ladypearl from Iowa Park, TX wrote: I have had these beasties attack all kinds of squash and tomato plants. The only effective control I've found is scraping the eggs and nymphs into a large diameter tin can (like a coffee can) that is half full of old oil that had been used for making french fried potatoes. When there are a lot of them, my husband will lift the vine so I can set the can on the ground underneath, and then knock the nymphs off into the oil where they drown. The adults have to be caught (I wear nitrile gloves) and thrown into the oil. This is also how I deal with the Colorado potato beetles. I have never found a spray that was effective against these monsters. My husband has run a cord out to the garden and brought his shop vac out to vacuum them off of the plants. Negative arielsq4 On May 3, 2009, arielsq4 from Reno, NV wrote: In Reno, Nevada this bug has become a major pest over the past ten years or so, attacking and usually destroying my entire butternut winter squash crop. Nothing seems to deter this pest. I am organic so I won't try Sevin insecticide but Sabadilla dust doesn't help much either. Placing flat boards near each bush doesn't attract even one bug overnight. It is interesting that they have never infested my Lemon Cucumber plants nearby and only rarely do I find them in the melons and the damage is minimal. Occasionally my Spring covey of Valley Quail patrol the squash plants and make a real meal of the insects morning and night but they aren't always reliable. There must be a way to control this pest but I'll probably die trying to find it. Neutral hoosierfarmboy On May 21, 2009, hoosierfarmboy from New Orleans, LA (Zone 8b) wrote: Have these, surprisingly, in a small garden planted in potting mix and also in soil that has been under cinders and concrete for about 50 years. They have been enjoying my cafeteria of potato and tomato plants; however, our southern Louisiana lizards seem to have found them to be appetizing. The squash bugs are not as prevelant as they were a week ago, and the lizards are getting fat. The tomatoes are holding their own, growing and fruiting slowly, the potato plants are still producing new growth from the apex (upper tips of the plant.) The herbs I have planted are not being affected by them. More later. Negative Jim_888 On Aug 30, 2009, Jim_888 from Kenton, OH wrote: These little devils are responsible for a complete wipeout of my squash garden the past 2 years in a row. Last year, I received absolutely zero produce from my four squash plants. This year, I planted SEVEN squash plants, hoping to fight against the bugs in numbers. That did absolutely no good. Five of them never even grew; they just withered away and died, as small as they were when I put them in the ground. Of the two that did survive, they only managed to choke out 1 squash before succumbing to the bugs. See my plants in these photos: /photos/25138711@N04/ (View the three pics labeled "2009") Believe it or not, there used to be seven plants in that space! I've also posted 3 pics in the pictures section of this article. Please look at them!

By Xenomorf By Xenomorf By Xenomorf By Xenomorf By DawninTx By chicochi3 By grits74571 There are a total of 12 photos. Click here to view them all!