is this a pretty predator or pretty pest?

[celerystalksmidnite]

Anyone know what this is?



I found a couple of these on my squash plants. I moved one to my tomato plant in the hopes that this thing eats leaf footed bug nymphs, as I'm seeing a few of those. Any chance it'll eat the nymphs?

[saltmarsh]

I think you have a nice picture of a squash vine borer moth.

[sfmathews]

You had better start looking for SVB eggs ASAP and squash 'em!

[celerystalksmidnite]

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

I think you have a nice picture of a squash vine borer moth.

And I caught him and let him go? bahahahaha! Thanks for the ID.

[tjg911]

i've seen them with wings open never like this. it is obviously a moth, look at the feathery antennae, won't be eating any pests. svb are nocturnal tho so how did you see it in the daytime, i'd think they hide in the day not sit out in plain view for a bird to make them into a meal?

tom

[celerystalksmidnite]

Originally Posted by tjg911

i've seen them with wings open never like this. it is obviously a moth, look at the feathery antennae, won't be eating any pests. svb are nocturnal tho so how did you see it in the daytime, i'd think they hide in the day not sit out in plain view for a bird to make them into a meal?

tom

I don't know anything about them. The info I turned up from Google said they are not nocturnal, thus it made sense I encountered them during the day. Maybe there are different species that behave differently in different parts of the country?

[ScottinAtlanta]

I have seen 3 or 4 in the early afternoon in Atlanta this year. They seem to be emerging in large numbers. They are the Spawn of Satan. If you enlarge a photo of their eye, you will see the fires of hell burning deep inside.

[huntoften]

SVB's are the bane of my Zucchini Bread making existence! They got me out of growing giant pumpkins too. DIE SVB DIE!!!

[ChrisK]

I am growing a squash this year from Botanical Interests called Tatuma calabacita...supposed to be SVB "immune". Possibly a good substitute for zucchini in bread?

http://www.botanicalinterests.com/pr...-Heirloom-Seed

Originally Posted by huntoften

SVB's are the bane of my Zucchini Bread making existence! They got me out of growing giant pumpkins too. DIE SVB DIE!!!

[shelleybean]

Yes, it's the SVB moth. And once you get them, you'll always have them unless you can kill them all, which is difficult. I have not been successful and I've tried all kinds of crazy ideas. They overwinter in your soil. Hopefully you can get a decent amount off your plants before it's so bad that they die. Mine are usually about done by the Fourth of July. I just use that space for cooler weather veggies in the fall. Good luck.

[tjg911]

assuming you don't want to use pesticides in your garden, here's some tips on how to defeat svb.

squash vine borers are easy to defeat but you have to either hold off planting their host plants until they are done laying eggs or cover the plants with frc until they are done laying their eggs. waiting to plant out the plants works well for zucchini and yellow squash because their dtm are short. up north the growing season is too short to do this with winter squashes whose dtm are often around 100 days or longer, i don't know about down south where you have a much longer growing season.

i don't like using frc so i hold off planting zucchini and yellow squash until the 4th of july. that date will change as you go farther south or north but that's the connecticut date. i start my seeds around 6/21 and plant them out on 7/4. both plants grow so fast they quickly catch up.

for winter squash i only grow butternut because they have solid stems and the svb can't get into the vines. all squashes that are moschata have solid stems while maxima and pepo have hollow stems and are going to be killed by the svb cats if you don't so something.

[Kazfam]

Squash Vine Borer Moth - active by day during summer and fall - look and act like wasps.

Mature caterpillar are white with brown heads. Caterpillars bore into the stems of plants in the squash family to feed on pith.

(Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America)

[saltmarsh]

Thumping works and is quite enjoyable.

I saw my first Squash Vine Borer today. It was sitting on a squash leaf, so I went over to say hello. Thumped her with my middle finger, but I'm sure my index finger would have done just as well. Then I finished it off with a size 11 1/2 brogan. It was so much fun, I think I'll look for more.

[mysidx]

I don't have any of those thank goodness, this year Assassin bugs and dragonflies have really helped with the other pests. I did really well keeping the leaf miners at bay, but now they have taken over.