Squash bug

The one in the picture is an old specimen, preparing to go into winter quarters under the leaves and wait for the tender squash and pumpkin vines to appear above the ground next spring.

It is surprising how quickly they find these juicy shoots, which they pierce with their sucking beaks and upon which they lay the eggs which in a few days hatch out into a brood of small but voracious squash bugs.

A strange-shaped bug, Eustictus tristigymus, Say.

A strange-shaped bug walked into the laboratory to have his picture taken, not willing evidently that he should be left out of the collection.

If you have questions, we do have an extension publication on just about all these insects and mites we're talking about.

What we do have on Squashbug, you can download and get more information.

That's K-State Horticultural Entomologist Raymond Cloyd with information on bagworms, lace bugs, two-spotted spider mites, and squash bugs.

To learn more, contact your local K-State Extension Office.