Cucumber Problems

[Crazy Plant Man]

Something has been eating my cucumbers, and I don't know what it is. About ten of my cucumber's leaves have these holes in them. I've never been able to catch the culprit in the act, so it would be greatly appreciated if someone could identify it and tell me how to kill it.

 

[Chuck]

Something has been eating my cucumbers, and I don't know what it is. About ten of my cucumber's leaves have these holes in them. I've never been able to catch the culprit in the act, so it would be greatly appreciated if someone could identify it and tell me how to kill it.View attachment 23968 View attachment 23969

It's either an insect or a caterpillar. A Spinosad based insecticide will take care of both.

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

Thanks for the answer. I'll make sure to use that insecticide.

 

[Tmheldt78]

Have you looked underneath the affected leaves? It looks very similar to cucumber beetle damage.
The spotted cucumber beetles look similar to ladybugs and are easy to catch and smash.
The striped cucumber beetles are a little more difficult to catch... they will fly if they sense danger. I normally hit those with insecticidal soap.
Both varieties will lay clusters of eggs underneath the leaves.
Good luck! I had both types trying to gain a foothold on my cucumbers and squashes a few weeks ago... I pretty much eliminated them after a few days of evening insect hunting haha!

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

I think that I do have cucumber beetles. I've seen some yellow beetles with black spots on my cucumbers, and I couldn't quite tell if they were cucumber beetles because I couldn't remember what a cucumber beetle looked like. I've looked at some pictures of them online now, and I think they are cucumber beetles. On an unrelated note, it's pretty cool to meet someone else on this site from southern Indiana.

 

[Tmheldt78]

I think that I do have cucumber beetles. I've seen some yellow beetles with black spots on my cucumbers, and I couldn't quite tell if they were cucumber beetles because I couldn't remember what a cucumber beetle looked like. I've looked at some pictures of them online now, and I think they are cucumber beetles. On an unrelated note, it's pretty cool to meet someone else on this site from southern Indiana.

I didn't even realize you were from Bloomington. I live down in Evansville

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

That's pretty cool. Have you gotten a lot of rain lately? This has probably been one of the wettest summers in the history of Indiana.

 

[Tmheldt78]

That's pretty cool. Have you gotten a lot of rain lately? This has probably been one of the wettest summers in the history of Indiana.

In April and May we had ridiculous amounts of rain. It seemed like it would never end. It was unseasonably cold too.
Then in June it got really hot and has stayed that way. Most of the rain has been going north and south of us, so I've had to water stuff myself a lot this year.

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

After all this time, I have figured out the name of my pest. For anyone interested, it is called a squash lady beetle. Fortunately, I've killed most of them and they haven't done too much more damage.