Leaf footed bugs on ripening cantaloupe :(

[Lmbauer2017]

Got home to find my one fruit doing well had at least 7 baby leaf footed bugs on its underside. I’m pretty sure that’s what they are because I had them on a blueberry bush nearby a couple months ago (and they ate all my blueberries). Is this a BT kind of thing? Like spray on the cantaloupe fruits?

PS my cantaloupe started showing signs of yellowing for the first time as the bugs showed up today… could they be related?

 

[YumYum]

Dont canteloupes turn yellow when they start to ripen?

 

[Chuck]

Yep, those are baby leaf footed stinkbugs. No, it is not a time for Bt, but, it is past time for spinosad. Bt kills caterpillars, nothing else. Your melon is in the ripening stage and the bugs are going to try to suck sap from the fruit but will have a tough time because your fruit already has its netting, that outer layer that looks like a net. These bugs are disease vectors and can transmit viral and bacterial diseases to all of your plants. Spray the bugs now with a spinosad based insecticide. Spray every plant you have. Next year keep a closer watch for these bugs and find the eggs before they hatch. The eggs will be in groups of 20-50 on the underside of large leafed plants like squash, melons or cucumbers. Just squash the eggs with your fingers. Inspect your plants daily. These bugs hatch out basically at the same time and stay together in a group for a few days. This is when they are easiest to spot and kill.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

There are at least 2 green varieties of cantaloupe that I know of from personal experience. One has the typical orange color flesh, the other has green flesh. Both are sweet and delicious. Come to think of it, I saw some yellow flesh ones in the store a few years ago too.

 

[Lmbauer2017]

Yep, those are baby leaf footed stinkbugs. No, it is not a time for Bt, but, it is past time for spinosad. Bt kills caterpillars, nothing else. Your melon is in the ripening stage and the bugs are going to try to suck sap from the fruit but will have a tough time because your fruit already has its netting, that outer layer that looks like a net. These bugs are disease vectors and can transmit viral and bacterial diseases to all of your plants. Spray the bugs now with a spinosad based insecticide. Spray every plant you have. Next year keep a closer watch for these bugs and find the eggs before they hatch. The eggs will be in groups of 20-50 on the underside of large leafed plants like squash, melons or cucumbers. Just squash the eggs with your fingers. Inspect your plants daily. These bugs hatch out basically at the same time and stay together in a group for a few days. This is when they are easiest to spot and kill.

Yes I’m 90% sure these things came on a small tree I bought back in April and brought leaf spot along with them too… So spray spinosad (using Cptn Jacks Brew) on ALL the plants in the raised bed? Doesn’t this stuff kill ALL bugs? Should I spray in the evening and wash it off in the morning?

 

[Chuck]

Yes I’m 90% sure these things came on a small tree I bought back in April and brought leaf spot along with them too… So spray spinosad (using Cptn Jacks Brew) on ALL the plants in the raised bed? Doesn’t this stuff kill ALL bugs? Should I spray in the evening and wash it off in the morning?

Once eggs are laid it only takes about a week for them to hatch. When they first hatch they look sort of like an aphid and this lasts about a week until they start looking like they do now and they stay in a group. Then they look like now and disperse all over the garden and then mature into what we know as a stink bug. So they didn't come with the tree. A non-descript looking blackish brown moth comes in at night and lays the eggs. And yes, use Capitan Jacks on everything but do you have any good bugs on your plants now? Very doubtful. And spinosad doesn't wash off easily.

 

[Lmbauer2017]

Once eggs are laid it only takes about a week for them to hatch. When they first hatch they look sort of like an aphid and this lasts about a week until they start looking like they do now and they stay in a group. Then they look like now and disperse all over the garden and then mature into what we know as a stink bug. So they didn't come with the tree. A non-descript looking blackish brown moth comes in at night and lays the eggs. And yes, use Capitan Jacks on everything but do you have any good bugs on your plants now? Very doubtful. And spinosad doesn't wash off easily.

Lollll very good point… well I do have 1 or two big bumble bees that come by in the evenings… I do have a number of green Texas long legged flys as well, but those seem to be very plentiful As they always show up everywhere whenever I plant a large leafed plant