How long is squash bug season in Georgia?

I'm in Georgia, north of Atlanta. This is the first year my squash have made it very far into squash bug season. Usually the borers get them first, then the squash bugs finish them off.

I've been diligently picking the adults off my squash and drowning them in soapy water for about a week and a half now, and getting rid of any eggs I find. Just wondering if these things are here for the rest of the summer, or if they will eventually go away if I can keep any nymphs from hatching?

Yes, I do suspect that the second question is over optimistic, but hey, a girl can dream, right?

The squash bug season is from last frost to first freeze, the first frost will kill a few, not all. I hate going out there, but I know that each bug I kill will not be able to lay eggs, and each set of eggs I spray and smash will not hatch and become bugs. The SB adult burrows into the dirt, and overwinters, going out there a couple of times and turning over the dirt in the winter, may help expose them to the cold and help decrease next years population. I've read somewhere that you can spread clear plastic or even black plastic in February to begin heating up the soil, and leave it on until it's time to plant, then treat the soil for them with DE or some say beneficial nematodes work to keep that years population down.



Oh, you can also spray that soapy water on bugs too small to pick by hand, I use 1C water, 1/4 C alcohol, 2Tbsp dish soap for my spray.

I use to have a problem with squash bugs until I got guinea hens. I don't see very many any more. They eat the japanese beetles too.

Thanks! I seem to be keeping them under control so far. They are in a place that has never had squash before but they fly in from all over anyway. I just have 2 squash plants so it's not a monumental problem.

I think that's why zucchini is so prolific, it has to hurry up and reproduce its little heart out before the borers and squash bugs kill it!

I also got this response from my extension service:
Thank you for contacting the UGA Extension Service and the Cherokee County
Master Gardeners concerning the squash bugs in your garden. Unfortunately,
these insects will persist throughout the growing season and can be difficult to
control. I have included links to three pieces of literature that describe the
squash bug life cycle and info about control (including organic) methods.
Please contact us if you have additional questions.

http://wiki.bugwood.org/Squash_bug#Life_Cycle

http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/crawford/anr/documents/SquashBugsOhMy.doc

http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/rabun/anr/documents/Organicinsecticides.pdf