Here we have a
beetle that is eating the flowers on these squash and pumpkin plants.
The larval stage of this insect
is a Corn Rootworm, so it eats the roots on the corn and then later in the season it comes
and eats the flowers on a lot vine crops
and so it's a pest twice during our gardening season,
as a larva and as an adult.
The easiest way to control these on the vines is just to use a soap spray; to get a
squirt bottle
put in a little bit of soap
and just give a squirt to the flowers.
The best time to do this is in the evening after the honey bees have left.
The flowers on these plants only last one day, so the bees will be gone
and you can kill a whole bunch of beetles all at once.
