I'm in the middle of my first gardening season, and I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with my squash plants (zucchini and ornamental gourds). First I had Squash vine borers, and I think I got rid of those. Now I have tons of little bugs on the open blossoms of the squash. They look like tiny fireflies (1/4 inch long), and there are about 20 on each blossom. When the blossoms close up, they hide. I don't think they're squash bugs, because I saw a picture and they look different, and I read that squash bugs are on the base of the plant. Can you help? Thanks!

Carrie, It seems you have western corn rootworm and striped cucumber beetle problems. The western corn rootworms have black stripes on their back and yellow/green abdomen while the cucumber beetles have black stripes on their back with a black abdomen. The western corn rootworm prefer feeding on pollen but when they are too many they feed on leaves and fruits of squash, pumpkins, and gourds.The siped cucumber beetle feeds on leaves, blossoms, and fruits of cucurbit crops, and they can transmit bacterial wilt as well. Control measure for both western corn rootworm and cucumber beetles: Treat the plants with "ORTHO Tomato and vegetable insect killer" or ORTHO Bug-B-Gon insect killer. Follow the label directions and spary the garden when bees are not in there (either early in the morning or late in the evening). Let me know if you need more assistance. Thank you for visiting urban web site.

Maurice Ogutu, PhD