Squash Bug
Activity
(Work conducted by Jesse Eiben, Entomology Graduate Student, Oklahoma State University)
Squash bugs are thought to overwinter in southeast Oklahoma as adults and to move from overwintering sites to cucurbit crops in the spring.
A study was conducted at Lane, Oklahoma in which squash plants were being monitored for squash bug presence. Plants were checked for squash bugs periodically and numbers of bugs are recorded. Each bug found was marked with paint, to tell if any were counted more than once.
Eight yellow crook-neck squash were transplanted March 19 around a field with confirmed squash bug populations the year before. One hundreds additional transplants were added to the field on May 12. This caused average numbers per plant to drop off. About 30% of the bugs found each day are unmarked. Squash bugs are actively moving in and out of the field.
During the first week of June, many new squash bugs were moving throughout the landscape. The vast numbers of bugs moving and the increase in insect population shows that these "new" bugs were hiding somewhere and moved when the temperatures increased. These new adult squash bugs are not members of the first generation of new adults. In Atoka county the oldest bug nymphs in the field still have at least one week of growing to do before they molt as the adult form.
Date Average Number of Squash Bugs on Squash Plants
April 1-24 None
April 25 0.5
April 29 0.5
May 1 0.87
May 4 5.25
May 6 3.5
May 8 3
May 10 4.12
May 11 1.25
May 12 5
May 13 4
May 14 0.28
May 17 0.71
May 18 0.29
May 19 0.63
May 20 0.65
May 21 0.66
May 24 0.62
May 25 0.26
May 26 0.74
May 27 0.45
May 28 0.58
May 31 2.62
June 1 2.42
June 2 1.95
June 3 0.71
June 4 1.6
June 7 1.6
June 8 1.2
This data was for adult squash bugs that over-wintered as adults. First generation adults will now become part of the adult populations. A large adult population is expected as the first generation develops.