Squash fly

Editorial diagnosis

Diagnosis overview

Cucurbit fruit flies or related flies can damage cucurbits through larvae in fruit or stems. Relevance is highly regional.

In gardens, Squash fly can occur on plants including butternut squash, red kuri squash. In the available profiles, it is linked mainly with Cucurbits.

Its importance depends on how quickly it spreads and whether seedlings, shoot tips, flowers, or fruit are affected. Remove suspected fruit and check regional guidance.

Inspect leaf undersides, shoot tips, and the soil around the plant at different times of day. Eggs, larvae, droppings, webbing, or slime trails are often more diagnostic than one damaged leaf.

A common mistake is to treat feeding damage without checking the animal, eggs, larvae, time of activity, and affected plant parts.