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Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Vegetable > Summer Squash and Zucchini > Holes in fruit

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Summer Squash and Zucchini > Fruit > Holes in fruit

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  • Image: Slugs 1
  • Image: 2
  • Image: 3

Slugs

  • Feeding results in a small, deep holes in both green and ripe fruit
  • Slugs look like snails without a shell, and are approximately 1/4 to 2 inches long
  • Slugs are particularly abundant when weather is cool and damp
  • More information on Slugs
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  • Image: Striped Cucumber Beetle 1
  • Image: Striped Cucumber Beetle 2
  • Image: Striped Cucumber Beetle 4

Striped Cucumber Beetle
Acalymma vittatum

  • Beetles feed on flowers and directly on fruit, causing scarring
  • Feed on leaves and can completely defoliate a plant
  • Shows a preference to cucumbers, certain varieties of winter squash, and zucchini
  • Vectors bacterial wilt
  • Adult is yellow-green in color, about 1/4 inch long, and marked by three black stripes
  • Active from June through September
  • More information on Striped Cucumber Beetle
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  • Image: Spotted Cucumber Beetle 1
  • Image: Spotted Cucumber Beetle 2

Spotted Cucumber Beetle
Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardii

  • Beetles feed on leaves, flowers, and fruit
  • Vectors bacterial wilt
  • Adult is 1/4 inch long, bright yellow-green body with 12 black spots
  • Active from June through September
  • More information on Spotted Cucumber Beetle

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