Spined soldier bugs are supposed to work well against cucumber beetles, and my melons and cukes all died last year because of the beetles and their diseases. (Wilt and mosaic)

I'm planning on a very aggressive organic preemptive strike this year growing various plants to attract beneficials (tansy, etc.), repellents (radishes) and some trap plants (squash with high concentrations of the substance they like), along with trying the most disease resistant cuke and melon I can find (County Fair cuke and Ananas melon, though I'm still going to grow my favorite varieties too).

I may release a batch of ladybugs in June (they supposedly eat the larvae), but the larvae weren't my problem. Disease spreading adults were. I had both striped and spotted, not a major invasion, but all it takes is one sick adult and you're done.

Having said all that, I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the spined soldier bug. You can buy a batch of the bugs, but they're nearly a hundred dollars. That's just too much to spend. I have plants on my list to try and attract them, but there's also an attractant you can buy. Has anyone used this?

There's a technique described by Organic Gardening to attract them, then catch them and make a "bug nursery" for later use. Sounds kind of crazy, but something I'd do. LOL.

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-2-10-188,00.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Soldier bug nursery