Development of Summer Squash Seedlings Damaged by Striped and Spotted Cucumber Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

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Abstract
Influence of feeding by adult striped cucumber beetle (STCB), Acalymma vittatum (F.), and spotted cucumber beetle (SPCB), Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, on summer squash, Cucurbita pepo L., was investigated. Greater defoliation and higher mortality occurred with STCB than SPCB, but differences in subsequent foliar and reproductive productivity were not significant. When 10 or more beetles of either species were placed on plants at the cotyledon or first true leaf stages for 2 wk, seedling mortality was the primary cause of yield reduction. Surviving plants infested at the cotyledon stage produced lower early season yields than plants infested at the third true leaf stage. Surviving plants infested at the second and third true leaf stages were typically able to compensate for growth delays caused by seedling damage before fruit production.