A Whatzit

Had an odd moth show up on the milkweed the other day- I've seen a few of these but was unable to get back with the camera before it flew off. I was pretty thrilled to get a new insect until I found out what it is- a Squash Vine Borer moth. This is a pest that lays eggs on squash vines which then hatch out into a caterpillar that burrows into the vine and eats it from within, killing some sections of the vine. As I found it four feet away from the squash patch this is not a good thing. Fortunately most of the vines are rooted in a few different places, so we won't lose much. We did just pick a nice healthy Butternut Squash and the season won't last too much longer, so it's not a major catastrophe.