Squash Bug eggs and hatchlings

bugman

July 24th, 2010 at 9:33 am

Categories

Unknown Garden Bug
Location: Aiken, South Carolina
July 24, 2010 8:39 am
We found these eggs and hatchlings in our vegetable garden.
James

Squash Bug Eggs

Hi James,
Eggs and hatchlings are often very difficult to identify properly, but we believe these hatchlings look like Leaf Footed Bugs in the family Coreidae. We thought Squash Bugs in the genus Anasa seemed a likely candidate, so we checked out that possibility on BugGuide. Bingo, the eggs matched an image of Squash Bug Eggs, Anasa tristis, posted on BugGuide. BugGuide has nice images of the life cycle of the Squash Bug, and the following information may be of interest to you: “Hosts on most species/varieties of cucurbits (plants in the squash family) but prefers to lay eggs on pumpkin and squash” and “This is the most injurious species of coreid in Florida (3) Injects a toxic saliva into plants, causing wilting and blackening of leaves. Can also act as vector of cucurbit yellow vine disease, which kills plants.”