Anasa tristis of the family Coreidae

Coreidae

Coreidae are a large family of predominantly herbivorous insects that belong in the hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. There are more than 1,800 species in over 250 genera. They vary in size from 7 to 45 mm, making the larger species some of the biggest heteropterans. The body shape of coreids...

 is a major pest of squash and pumpkin

Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...

s, and is a vector of the cucurbit yellow vine disease (CYVD) bacterium. These bugs can emit an unpleasant odor when disturbed.

This is the "squash bug" of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, but properly it is known as Orange-tipped Leaf-footed Bug since "squash bug" is a name applied to any common Coreidae that include Cucurbita

Cucurbita

Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in Mesoamerica and now used in many parts of the world. It includes species grown for their fruit and edible seeds , as well as some species grown only as gourds...

among their host plants. In Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, for example, the Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus

Coreus marginatus

Coreus marginatus, commonly called the dock bug, is a species of squash bug. It is a speckled brown insect with a broad abdomen, and is common in most parts of Europe...

) is "the" squash bug.

External links

• Squash bug on the UF
  University of Florida
  The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
  
   / IFAS
  Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
  The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
  
  Featured Creatures Web site
• eNature Entry for Squash Bug