Squash Vine Borer Update

After the initial shock and sadness of discovering the squash vine borer devouring my winter squash, I went back out to Natural Gardner. Come to find out these spawns of the devil are very specialized critters, normally only attacking squash vines that are hollow. This means both winter and summer varieties.

The adult borer looks like a small wasp; only being about 1/2 inch long. Their body is orange abdomen with black dots. They have two pairs of wings. A metallic green pair and a black pair. The metallic pair are only visible when they are flying.

The larvae are white or cream-colored with brown heads, growing to almost an inch long. I have not seen any yet. I do know they are present because of the damage to my vines.  I do see a lot of eggs, they look like little flat black specks. As you can see from the photo, pill bugs have also made the injured plant their home.  Pill bugs do not borer, they are simply taking advantage of the situation. This picture was taken just before I pulled the vine. I now have one winter squash and two summer squash plants left. All three have vegetables on them. 

Since the squash vine borer attacks hollow stemmed vines, I am going to plant Cucurbita Moschata "Seminole" as known as Seminole Pumpkin. The Seminole Pumpkin is a pear-shaped or roundish pumpkin with a hard rind. The vine is not hollow like other squash plants.  Since the vine is solid like a cucumber, I should have no problems the borer. Unfortunately, I was not able to find seeds for these local, I had to order them. Since they mature 95 to 100 days, I should be able to get one crop before cold weather set s in. Wish me luck!