Influence of Trap Crops on Tomato and Squash Insect Pests

Demand for alternative pest management strategies for key pests of vegetables continues to increase in the United States. In 2015, farmers produced and sold $8.7 billion of edible food commodities directly to consumers, retailers, institutions, and a variety of local food intermediaries (USDA, NASS Dec. 2016, ACH 12-35, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2016/LocalFoodsMarketingPractices_Highlights.pdf, accessed 20 March 2020). The squash bug, Anasa tristis (DeGeer), feeds on the leaves, stems, and vines of the squash (Cucurbita L.) plant consuming nutrients and reducing photosynthetic capacity due to leaf chlorosis and necrosis (Beard 1935, Connecticut Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 383: 333–339) and transmitting cucurbit yellow vine disease caused by the bacterium Serratia marcescens Bizio (Bruton et al. 2003, Plant Dis. 87: 937–944; Pair et al. 2004, J. Econ. Entomol. 97: 74–78). Other key pests of squash include the squash vine borer, Melittia cucurbitae (Harris) (Jackson et al. 2005, J. Agric. Urban Entomol. 22: 27–39), and the...