If you’re wondering how to get rid of squash bugs naturally, chances are you either have them now, or have already experienced the loss of plants due to this most common squash nemesis.
If you don’t have them, that’s great! We mention prevention below.
You could say that squash bugs are the “Bermuda grass” of pests: invasive and hard to get rid of! While squash bugs can look a lot like stink bugs, right down to the stink factor, the difference is that the squash bug body is longer and leaner.
Squash Bugs Are a Serious Threat to Squash and Pumpkin Crops
Squash bugs (Anasa Tristis), are a serious threat to squash plants. As anyone who’s ever lost the battle can attest, squash bugs damage is extensive and often seemingly sudden, and can decimate an entire crop for the growing season.
The best defense against squash bugs is prevention.
How to prevent squash bugs
The best way to get rid of squash bugs is to prevent them from attacking your garden in the first place!
- Daily diligence to keep ahead
- Pick egg masses off the plants mornings and evenings
- Crop rotation
- Avoid deep mulch (sorry… we love the Ruth Stout deep mulch concept, but avoid around squash bugs…)
- Cover plants the first month of spring, until blossoming begins,
- or delay planting until early summer months
- Companion plants that deter squash bugs
- Nasturtium
- Tansy (seeds available on Amazon)
- Plant squash bug resistant varieties
We’ve covered more on that in this article on how to prevent squash bugs naturally to help you keep squash bugs from invading your garden.
Squash bug (Anasa tristis Hemiptera: Coreidae) is the most serious pest of squash and pumpkins in the U.S. and is a potential problem for all cucurbits.
~ATTRA.NCAT.org[1]canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/uploads/files/borer-and-squash.pdf
“Neem oil, horticultural oil and canola oil are most effective on the smallest nymphs.”
Cornell Univ. Ext. Srv.[2]https://ccecolumbiagreene.org/climate-change-and-the-environment/invasive-nuisance-species/squash-bug
What Do Squash Bugs Look Like?
Adult Squash Bugs Appearance
- Usually found on underside of leaves and in cracks in the soil
- 1/2 – 3/4″ in length
- Flat, grayish brown body
- Alternate gold and brown patches around the lower edges of the abdomen
- Somewhat resembles a brown marmorated stink bug
What Do Squash Bug Eggs and Nymphs Look Like?
Squash Bug Eggs and Nymphs Appearance
If you notice your squash leaves beginning to look mottled and ailing check them for squash bugs, squash bug eggs, and squash nymphs. In late spring and early summer, keep and eye out for adult squash bugs who will be mating in June and early July. Look for signs of amber brown oval shaped eggs and pale grey baby squash bugs called nymphs.
Be on the lookout for squash bug eggs and nymphs in June and early July.
When Do Squash Bugs Mate?
Be on the lookout for adult squash bugs in early summer. Squash bugs mate in June and early July, and the females can lay up to 250 eggs over a 6-8 week period.
SOURCE: Ag.UMass.edu
Squash Bugs Mating
The after effects… squash bug eggs!
How to Get Rid of Squash Bugs
As indicated previously, the best remedy is to prevent squash bugs from taking up residence. However, they’re a hardy and determined bug, so you may still have to do battle with these armored bugs.
Indeed, in spite of our devoted attention to spraying neem oil and removing squash bug eggs, the squash bugs and vine borers have appeared, so our pumpkin and squash patrols have intensified!
How to Get Rid of Squash Bugs Organically
- REMOVE: Pick squash bugs off of leaves and drop them into a container of soapy water. We like to use an old 32 oz yogurt contain with a lid and cap it overnight to make sure they’re dead before disposing of it.
- SPRAY plants, especially the underside of leaves with an organic insecticide, such as Safer Neem Oil
- SPRINKLE plants liberally with diatomaceous earth, (DE).
- SPRAY plants with an OMRI approved organic insecticidal killing soap. These make the leaves unpalatable and also weakens and kills squash bugs.
- SPRAY plants with OMRI – listed Surround WP – a water soluble form of kaolin clay. Used as a preventative, it may also be effective deterrent against further feeding and egg laying.
- LURE & DESTROY: Place an old wooden board on the ground by your squash plants and check it first thing each morning. On cool nights, squash bugs like to spend the night under things, so that they can be captured and eliminated the next morning.[3]https://ccecolumbiagreene.org/climate-change-and-the-environment/invasive-nuisance-species/squash-bug
We use the diatomaceous earth all around the garden with great benefit. However, an organic insecticide spray comes in hand for getting the underside of the leaves where the DE powder may not stick. Our favorite garden tool for this is a battery powered garden sprayer that makes quick work of coating all the big squash leaves.
An experiment to evaluate the efficacy of organic insecticides on A. tristis adults and nymphs showed the organic pyrethrin-based sprays are best for controlling Anasis tristis.[4]https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/davies_lindsay_n_201605_ms.pdf
Squash Bug Eggs
Search the top and bottom of all leaves. You’re looking for tiny clusters of brown elliptical shaped eggs. Here are some of the simplest methods for getting rid of squash bugs and their eggs.
How to Get Rid of Squash Bug Eggs
- For small areas you can cut out the patch of leaves with a sharp blade or garden scissors.
- If you have larger or multiple affected, use tape to remove the eggs.
- Scrape eggs off of leaves with spoon. Some people will:
- crush the eggs
- allow them to fall to the soil and become food for beetles and damsel flies
- scrape then into a container of soapy water
If there are just a few patches if eggs here and there, we use a sharp blade or scissors to cut out the egg-layered section.
If you have more and larger areas of eggs, another very effective method is to use tape. White duct tape is a good tape to use because it’s the right amount of stickiness and it’s easier to see the clusters of oval brown eggs you’re removing. Wrap the tape around all four fingers, sticky side outward, then dab at the eggs, careful not to do damage to the leaves.
Some people just throw the leaves or tape away as a part of garden maintenance, but we burn it in our garden burn barrel. Chances are the larvae wouldn’t survive off the plant leaf but we want to minimize any risk of leftover eggs hatching into squash bugs.
If you start with the steps for preventing squash bug infestation, and then apply daily diligence in squash bug patrol, chances are good that you and your squash will make it to harvest, none to worse for the wear.
This is a case where a few ounces of prevention is worth many pounds of healthy squash!
Contributions from the Community
Corn meal used for squash bugs and for ants also. They say when the ants eat it they swell up and explode!! I use it on my houseplants for the little black gnats and the ants in my greenhouse. Sprinkle on top of soil.
~Kevi Gibson Gustin
Prevention is Always Best
Prevention is ever the preference whenever possible, so for your future garden planning and ecosystem, you may wish to visit this article on how to prevent squash bugs.
Wishing you happy squash and healthy harvests!
I’m LeAura Alderson, a garden, herb and plant enthusiast with a passion for discovering the many edible and medicinal benefits of the plants all around us, including the weeds! I’m a writer, editor and media publisher for our family of websites.
While I was certified in fitness and life coaching, I am NOT a health practitioner. However, I’m a lifelong health enthusiast, with a keen interest in healthy, organic foods and making home remedies and the content we share is from our own experience and usage as well as that extracted from scientific research so that you can explore further on your own.
Always seek the advice and guidance of your health practitioners first and foremost.
As a family we’re steadily expanding our gardening, experimentation and knowledge around all things gardening, edible landscaping, fresh organic foods and self sustainability with farming in our future. I also own and manage iCreateDaily.com, a site all about transformation through creation, and the power of positivity, optimism and mindset.
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