Continue to pick them off....maybe the most effective method of control!! Or you can resort to Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis.

Soapy water will have minimal effect :-)

Could also use a spray that has Spinosad as the active ingredient.

Rodney

Paul, are you certain that they are caterpillars and not the yellow, fuzzy larvae of the squash lady beetle?

Google images of squash lady beetle and larvae

Rhizo

Its definitely the squash lady beetle!

Okay, that's what I thought. Forget most of the advice given above, lol. These are not caterpillars at all but beetle larvae.

A hands on approach will work well for you. You will find images of all stages of this pest in that link I attached. You should go through your plants on an egg seeking mission, squishing as you find them. They will be on the underside of the leaves.

Adult beetles and their spiky larvae can be collected and tossed into a container of soapy water as you work your way through the garden. It's hard to miss them, everything is yellow.

I didn't think those things were particularly voracious.

dan, the adults lay several large clutches of eggs in her life. They all hatch and out come those little yellow eating machines.....forty on this leaf, forty five on that one, up to four to five hundred!

They can't leave the dining room that they were born in until they develop into adults when they can fly off to a neighbor's garden. The good thing is that there really aren't a lot of these insects in the general population. I've only seen them a few times in all my gardening days. They were a cause for concern until controlled.

The other thing is that a gardener has to garden! The eggs are typically laid on the underside of leaves, and the yellow larvae remain on the underside, too. Their presence can come as a sad surprise, hence the "Mayday" calls from Paul. He will need to get personal with his squash, cukes, and zukes, turning the leaves over in search of yellow eggs and yellow spiky larvae.

My previous suggestion to use spinosad still applies.

Rodney

What I have done is to use 2-3" wide tape, ie. duct tape. Wrap enuff to go around 4 fingers with the sticky side out. Works like fly paper to hold the larvae and can remove the eggs when pressed against them. Remember to dispose of the used tape.

While this takes time, if you repeat daily for a couple days checking each leaf you will see a reduction in the number of target insects.

My primary problem with the Spinosad, and it's a big issue for me, is that it doesn't just control pest insects. Spinosad can harm the beneficials along with the pests unless one is extremely careful. Makes more sense to use the gumby method and have it over and done with.

Apply at dusk when pollinators aren't present and avoid spraying on open flowers. Can't say that I have ever really noticed any other beneficials that like to hang around squash that may get sprayed inadvertently. And I am in no way advocating spraying the entire yard, just the plants which are getting damaged. Properly applied it is a useful tool for managing pests.

Rodney

Has anyone tried to attract Tachinid flies ?

http://www.saferbrand.com/articles/how-to-kill-squash-bugs

Great idea. Not sure if I would know a Tachinid fly if I saw (or killed) one. I like doing the "Natural Enemy" approach so avoid using any broad spectrum pesticides 'hoping' the pests will balance themselves.

But great idea - Life is all about balance and so is gardening.

Gumby- Whether one is using a pesticide in a responsible manner or is removing the pests by hand using duct tape, the pests are still getting removed. So I fail to see the point of your "avoid using any broad spectrum pesticides 'hoping' the pests will balance themselves" comment...

Rodney

Because broad spectrum pesticides kill the beneficials as well as the bad guys. If you let nature take its course and just let the beneficials (and birds) take care of the baddies or hand pick those you can easily see, then nature has a way of letting things balance out on ther own. Introducing any pesticides into the mix alters the balance.......

Well as I have said a few times now, it is possible to use a pesticide without wiping out an entire ecosystem but apparently you all just want to assume the worst. Pesticides are a tool and it is up to the gardener to use them responsibly. And with that said I am bowing out of this discussion.

Rodney

Of course the "balance" that may result may be the total loss of your crop. Nature has a way of letting non-native vegetables croak.

IMO and my garden balance includes a healthy crop.

fwiw - Rodney, I never suggested you or anyone else follow my approach. As I have said here before many times - the nice thing about gardening, it is your garden and you can do what ever you want in your garden.

I'm just saying that the "balance" achieved by "letting nature take its course" may be no crop at all. For example, nature really doesn't need tomatoes to be around. Nature can be balanced beautifully without any vegetables growing at all.

That being said, broad spectrum pesticide use is the sledgehammer approach to insect mitigation. A targeted approach is smarter.

I'm just sayin - You can balance your garden any way you want.

I'm certain people with larger gardens and/or commercial growers will not do the things I can or am willing do in my garden. Just sayin.

One of the many reasons I garden is so I know what went into it.

I agree with gumby. I just don't get why people grow vegetables, only to spray chemicals on them. You may as well go to the grocery store. I want to know that nothing bad is in my food..and it is possible to do that without pesticides. Each to his own, I guess.

My cucumber, squash, and cantaloupe didn't survive the infestation. They stopped producing fruit a few weeks ago. I refuse to use any pesticides. All in all, I had a decent run for my first garden.

Next year you'll be on the lookout earlier for them, and get the jump om them. Every year I learn something new...you will, too. Glad you were happy with your first garden..next year you'll be happier!!!!!!!

Paul, one helpful chore to attend to before fall and winter sets in is to do a thorough job of cleaning all of the plant debris from the garden and disposing of it. Many of us aren't willing to avoid planting cucurbits every couple of years, but crop rotation is another tried and true method of cutting down on the population of these beetles.

Remember, squash beetles, not squash bugs.

Also, as you garden, you may decide that certain crops aren't worth the effort to maintain. Those foods you might more easily get at the market. I gave up growing the squash family because of the insects plus I don't eat that much of them.