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Squash Bug
(John Obermeyer, Purdue University)

Common Name: Squash Bug

Order: Hemiptera

Family: Coreidae

Pest Status: Squash bugs use piercing, sucking mouthparts to suck juices out of plants - especially vegetables.

Appearance: Adults are rather large (5/8-inch long), winged, brown-black, flat-backed insects and give off a disagreeable odor when crushed.

Life Cycle: Adults overwinter in the shelter of dead leaves, vines, boards, or buildings. They emerge in the spring to lay masses of eggs on the undersides of leaves. The eggs hatch within ten days and the nymphs pass through five instars in one month. Only one generation develops each year and new adults do not mate until the following spring.

Where to Collect: Adults and nymphs are found clustered near plant crowns, beneath damaged leaves, under clods, or in any protective groundcover.