If you plan on growing cucumbers and melons this spring and summer, you need to plan ahead for two nasty insects which routinely attack and kill these plants every year: the striped cucumber beetle and the spotted cucumber beetle. If you haven’t lost plants to these insects over the years, then you have good reason to get down on your knees and thank God for having been spared.

For those gardeners who have lost plants over the years, we should expect yet another massive attack of striped cucumber beetles again this spring and early summer. Hey generally have the highest populations in the garden, but they stay the longest, from early May to the closing days of July.

First, male and female striped cucumber beetles overwinter as adults in neighboring gardens. They usually find shelter in debris and plant material, always seeming to be close to the soil throughout the winter. Mid-to-late April find the beetles feeding on young tree leaves, but they migrate to vegetable gardens soon after cucumbers, melons and squash are planted by homeowners. Beetles start feeding on the vines, after which they begin mating over several weeks. By the time they return to the vegetable garden, vines have lengthened considerably.

It is toward late May when female striped cucumber beetles start laying eggs, always on the vines as they emerge from the soil. Eggs are tiny, but visible. They are orange in color, and are generally laid in small clusters on vines as they exit the soil. Eggs hatch within a week, after which young larvae burrow into the soil below and start feeding on young, tender roots. A byproduct of beetle feeding on plant roots is the toxin they inject into vines. The formal name of the bacterial wilt inflicted by these beetles is Erwinia tracheiphila. It causes vines and outward-growing leaves to wilt within 24-30 hours after infection. By the time you see dying cucumber vines, there is little you can do to save the crop. You could cut the vine by removing six inches of the outward vine, then inserting the pruned end of the vine into the soil, and watering every morning for 10-14 days in hopes the vine will root in time.

As for the beetles, they soon pupate in the soil, emerging as full-grown adults a month later. Up to late July, they continue to mate and deposit eggs on healthy cucumber and melon vines. By the first days of August, beetles leave the vegetable garden in search of acceptable quarters for later overwintering in the garden.

Placing aluminum foil atop the soil of cucumber and melon vines has a viable alternative to pesticide applications. Reflected ultra-violet sunlight from the foil was said to deter beetle eggs from hatching and escaping to the soil below.

As for pesticide applications, the powdered insecticide Methoxychlor has long been recommended as an effective control for cucumber beetles. You may have a difficult time finding Methoxychlor, but it is worth the effort if you don’t plan on using other controls. Dissolve one teaspoon of Methoxychlor in a quart of water, then spray emerging and lengthening vines in the morning every five days. If it rains during the five day schedule, apply Methoxychlor first thing the next morning (no rain), then adopt a new five-day timetable.