Cucumber beetles and squash bugs are two of the worst pests in any garden. As a certified organic grower, the strongest "control" in our arsenal is 1% Rotenone--which will kill most anything except adult squash bugs and cucumber beetles (and ants--I've actually had ants live in 1% Rotenone powder). The best method of control of any pest is a "trap" crop. Sometimes you have to forfeit growing most cucurbits for a season if you're so infected with cucumber beetles or squash bugs that you simply can't continue. Of course a trap crop is a small crop of the type preferred by the insect you're trying to eradicate. Anney mentioned the squash that cuke beetles seem to be most attractive in her area, so she should use that. Do a small planting to attract the beetles to that area--it need only be 4 feet by 4 feet, or 10 feet by 10 feet, whatever suits you. When all the cuke beetles in the world are feeding on the trap crop, do them in with whatever suits you and you feel won't destroy the universe. I use pure ethanol. Do a succession of these small trap crop plantings, and at the end of the season, you'l have made a horrific dent in their population. (Unless your next door neighbor is working against you with his crop of cuke beetles allowed to run amuck.) It hurts to have to sacrifice crops you love to eat while your eradication process is ongoing--but it's sometimes necessary, and I've had to do it in the past. If you research both insects I mentioned, you'll find they overwinter in trash and debris and litter--and of course in all this stuff which is in the woods nearby, which makes it difficult--but garden cleanly and don't have junk lying around to give them instant access--leaves, old bales of hay and straw, old mulch, etc., all the things they love to hide in over winter. Good work Anney, and others, who are trying to solve the problem. I'm an organic market grower, and some years I have to leave a 10' by 10' growth of cantaloupes or watermelons to herd up all the squash bugs and cucumber beetles that were on 5 acres of cataloupes and/or watermelons, then kill the thousands of those insects that congregate on the small planting. That's the beauty of a "trap" crop. I can either spray 5 acres--or I can wait until the planting is over and leave a small trap planting where I can kill them all as they flock to it. It makes a big difference in time, energy, and money spent.

drscott I've added a post to this one on the bean forum to call attention to Jim's and Rodger's reports about the environmentally-friendly Pediobius foveolatus. I think we need an arsenal of weapons against the Mexican Bean beetle depending on our budgets and needs. I like to use trap crops, in most cases more accurately called "lure crops", to attract pests away from crops we want for ourselves and then dispatch them in the most environmentally-friendly way possible. There is no way we can eradicate every pest in our gardens and we shouldn't try, or we'll end up poisoning everything and tearing every hair from our heads! Most of us can live with some insect damage. But I, for one, am grateful for those who ID answers to insect pest problems and share them with the rest of us. What I can do or imagine is limited. Anyway, I just wanted to call attention to the lure crop technique for dealing with these pests, too. Next is to find an environmentally-friendly way to dispatch them if they can be lured away from the beans I want to eat to those I don't and if it isn't cost-effective to purchase Pediobius foveolatus to do them in! Pyrethrin is recommended, but I don't know how lethal it is to beneficial insects, so I have some more research to do.

Below is a link to an extension article on bean beetles that might provide the info you're looking for. It looks like they aren't too bad if they don't build up their numbers. Do you have chickens? If you do, let them so some cleanup: let them into the area and then go along the plants and tap them to make the beetles fall to the ground, where the chickens can get them. I would let the birds in first, maybe draw them to the area with a spoonful of scratch, THEN start tapping the leaves, so they can see the tasty morsels fall and grab them before they take cover. But I wouldn't let the birds roam unescorted or for too long, as they will dig soil away from the bean plant roots. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: U of MN: Bean leaf beetles home garden

Here are many pictures of Mexican bean beetles. Notice that the first section behind the head is plain -- that is no markings. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&cp=14&gs_id=6d&xhr=t&q=mexican+bean+beetle&newwindow=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&biw=819&bih=451&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=buRfULfGPKWViQKP04CwCg Your beetles have a "W" on the first section behind the head. That W-mark is characteristic of Asian lady beetles. Stop worrying & be happy. Here is a link that might be useful: Mexican bean beetles