dremmle
Full Member
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:16 pm
Location: Texas

Unusual bug (pic)

I was trying to see how bad my cucumber beetle infestation was when I came across this beautiful and unusual insect on my zuchini plant.

I thought I would share, and if anyone knows what it is I would be happy to know what it is.
[img]https://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Danjim_photos/bug.jpg[/img]

TZ -OH6
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2097
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Mid Ohio

It looks like a squash vine borer moth. Kill it quickly and look for eggs

tedln
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Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:06 pm
Location: North Texas

Yep, SVB for sure. They lay their eggs usually on the main stem of the plant. When the eggs hatch, the larvae eat into the main stem and then enter the stem where they live and grow eventually killing the plant. At some point the larvae drops from the plant and enters the soil under the plant where it pupates and re-emerges as a moth starting the cycle over again.

Ted

tedln
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Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:06 pm
Location: North Texas

dremmle wrote:I was trying to see how bad my cucumber beetle infestation was when I came across this beautiful and unusual insect on my zuchini plant.

I thought I would share, and if anyone knows what it is I would be happy to know what it is.
What part of Texas are you in? If you are in Zone 8, that means I will probably have the first cycle of the SVB's within a week in Zone 7, North Tezas. I have netting up to protect my squash, but they will also attack cucumbers. I usually try to plant cucumbers which have some natural resistance to them.

Ted



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