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.

MBB infestations seem to be especially up and down. I think mad efforts at physical control are a waste of a lot of time that can spent on something else. I agree the wasp is expensive and probably only worth it for market growers, and by the time MBB is present in significant numbers it's too late. IMO, the important thing to know is this: MBB prefers Phaseolus cultivars over other legumes by a huge degree. If one's goal is to always have a warm-weather legume crop of some kind, then do not limit it to Phaseolus. Much of north america will allow production of Vigna cultivars, for example, the asian yard-long bean is a nice substitute for green beans. If the MBB comes on strong, your Phaseolus plants will act as a trap-crop to the benefit of the other legumes.

It is the red dye #28 which is the beetle-killer, not because of the color but because of its photoreactive characteristics. When consumed by cuke beetles, they are dead in five to ten minutes after they go into the sunlight. The beetles must be induced to ingest it, usually by offering something that they are irresistibly attracted to and mixing the dye with it. This link describes the principles. I am using Caserta squash as the lure since it ranks very high in attractiveness to cucumber beetles. Red dye #28 has been determined to be safe for human consumption for many decades. The dye is called a "light-activated insecticide", meaning that the insect must first ingest it and then be exposed to sunlight through the insect's transparent gut. The light excites oxygen molecules inside the insect, which is believed to cause a chemical reaction that kills the insect. It also works to kill Mediterranean fruit flies using the same "lure-dye" lethal cocktail, of course with a different lure. This was discovered in 1928, though until recently, nobody was interested when there were so many insecticides consumers could buy for pennies that would kill every insect around. My next project will be to see if it works on Mexican bean beetles, though I don't know if they have a transparent gut. [If not, mixing Sevin with the lure concoction will also dispatch the pests without contaminating your garden area if you keep it off the soil. This was the first insecticide I used against cuke beetles, along with tayuya root powder as the lure. Later I used clove oil as the lure, which attracts only female cucumber beetles. But so many people feared the Sevin would end up spilled onto their soil, I kept trying to find something that wasn't so scary to organic people, even though the Sevin never went into the garden.] The only host the MBB seems to prefer above all others is wax beans, so I'm thinking that maybe some kind of "wax bean soup" could be whipped up with the dye as part of the soup if it's a beetle with a transparent gut. I need to find an entymologist to ask! Several issues must be kept in mind. First, to identify a lure that is attractive ONLY to the pest, not beneficial insects. And second, no other plants in your garden must be more attractive to the insect than the plant you're using for a lure. And then the lure and dye mixture or insecticide must be ingested by the pest in the form it's offered.

Couple of cuke beetles, but nothing overwhelming. I don't order any predator insects. I garden organically and avoid all broad-spectrum pesticides (including organic ones). The bug balance in my yard is plentiful and pretty well-balanced as a result.