Wow, so squash bug feeding can look like bacterial wilt but does not carry the disease? I hold out some hope, then, because when I tried the test for bacteria (looking for the stringy strands in the cut ends) I didn't see anything, and this puzzled me. Also, I have seen the yellow specks mentioned here:
http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/veg.... Holding my breath.
Just a bit before noon I was out and found a single squash bug and a single striped cucumber beetle, both in the soil at the base of the same melon plant. Nothing on or under any leaves of any of the cucurbits. I drowned the beetle in soapy spray and squished the squash bug after drenching it. I also fervently thanked an assassin beetle nymph that was jaws-deep into another cucumber beetle nearby--the only other one I found--from the bottom of my heart, the dear little bloodthirsty killer.
I know it only takes one bad bite, but I thought it was amazing that with such a teeny population I'm already down for the count. So again--holding my breath. Thanks for that extra bit of info to give me hope.
I'm going to try your method of spraying the leaves top-down a little later this afternoon and see what I find when I come back to spray and squish.
