Jack1000 said:


I had a problem with squash borers last year. I was wondering if anybody knows
what the egg looks like when it gets laid on the plant stem.
I found a few hard, very small brownish circular things that I thought might
be the eggs. There was one on a stalk attached facing the ground, maybe four on
every other plant.

Fresh eggs are lighter pinkish tan and darken to a reddish brown. Patrolling
once a day (can be stretched to once every 36 hours) and crushing all of the
eggs is time consuming but effective. The eggs might be single or you might
find many. If you miss and egg you might notice a small spot of 'chewed up'
stem. Often you can scrape this away and bring the tiny larva with it, or use
a fine wire to kill the larva.

The moth flies by day and is, in fact, most likely to be seen moving around
in the very middle of the day. It imitates a wasp as it flies, but it is perfectly
harmless to *you* -- every one you kill is that much less trouble with eggs
and larvae.

Some images of the adult moth:

http://booksandnature.homestead.com/moth88.html

http://pestdata.ncsu.edu/cropprofile...KYpumpkin.html (scroll down)
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)