Melitta cucurbitae

Lepidoptera: Sesiidae

Identification
• Larva is white, fat, legless, and up to 1" long. (a)
• Adult is a red, wasplike moth with clear wings.

Damage
• Larva tunnels in the stems of squash, pumpkin, and other vine crops. (b)
• Attacked plants wilt and die in mid to late season.

Management
• Double-crop summer squash-plant a second crop in early July to avoid the egg-laying adults.
• Avoid planting zucchini, blue hubbard, acorn, delicata, and other very susceptible varieties.
• Butternut squash is highly resistant to attack.
• Bank soil along vines to encourage rooting to replace those of the borer-damaged main stem.
• Hand-remove the reddish-brown eggs laid on the plant stem just above and below the soil line.
• Adults can be removed by hand as they sit on their host plants and garden beans in the early morning.
• Insecticides available to homeowners are only marginally effective.