Friend or Foe!

My definition of whether an insect is good or bad often has to do with its proximity to my garden! As a rule I like most living things and go out of my way not to harm them, BUT, I will now squash a squash bug in a heartbeat!

I try to stay proactive, checking for eggs, caterpillars, squash bug adults and nymphs and katydids daily. I also make a habit of cutting out damaged leaves so I can see if the problem is increasing or subsiding. If I cut a squash leaf with squash bug eggs on it, I don't put that leaf in my compost pile, but in the trash....far away from my garden!

I have yet been able to get rid of the ants!! They continue to eat my okra blossoms and are now on my squash blossoms. I continue to turn my hose nozzle to "jet", swirl some liquid soap over their mounds and disrupt the ant colony, killing a few and driving the others away. Unfortunately, this has not solved my problem; the ants still picnic in my garden daily!

So, aside from checking often and squashing when needed, the battle goes on. I guess this is just one more opportunity for me to realize that, although frustrating, in the scheme of life, a few bugs are nothing!

Squash bug eggs on the underside of a leaf



Juvenile squash bug



Adult squash bug

Carolina Sphinx moth caterpillar, also know as tobacco horn worm