Sometimes vines are almost severed. The hind wings are transparent like those of a wasp. The abdomen is ringed with orange and black. They fly swiftly and noisily about plants during the daytime. Female moths lay their small, oval, somewhat flattened, brownish eggs on stems in May or early June.
Young borers hatch in about a week, tunnel into stems, feed and are full grown in about four weeks.
Larvae leave their burrows and make a cocoon in the soil. Two or three weeks later, adults emerge, giving rise to a second generation of larvae in North Carolina during early August. Excrement should be watched for around the bases of plants, and when first noticed, insecticide sprays should begin. Success of any insecticidal treatment depends on early and repeated treatment. Since the insect passes the winter in the ground, squash should not follow squash.