Yellow Summer Crookneck Squash Dying? *LONG*

Hey y'all, 1st time poster (and gardener for that matter!) here and I'm having some troubles...

My husband and I bought a house in mid-July that already had a garden. There were a bunch of the Yellow Summer Crookneck Squash (maybe 6 or so), a whole row of Romaine Lettuce (maybe 12 heads or so), a Tomato plant (not sure the variety), a Cherry Tomato plant, a Crimson Red Watermelon vine (fruited one watermelon, but it cracked open and I see some blossoms on the vine...) and a Zucchini Squash.

When we moved in the garden was pitiful. It was bone dry, wilted, and looked almost too far gone. We started watering it and it came back to life. The squash plants were producing nicely and we were collecting a squash or two every other day. The Romaine Lettuce really came back to life! But I started noticing some issues with my squash plants.

They started looking kind of spongy at the stem and the leaves were turning black and wilting and dying. The plants are still producing some blossoms but after the squash gets about 3-4" long they shrivel up and go rotten. I've also had to dig up 3 plants because they were dead.

We hadn't been weeding the garden (per my brother-in-law's suggestion) and it got too out of hand. We weeded today and I will be keeping up with it daily. We also have an OVER ABUNDANCE of ants... not sure if that's a bad thing. I also saw some little white bodied bugs crawling all over the stems of the still alive-ish yellow squash. I've read a couple of things about "bore worms" (?) and I'm not sure what I should be looking for...

Any advice or help about what I should be looking for or what I can do to help it thrive is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

The season may be over,but I will help you for next year. If they bugs have a black colored head and a white body then they are squash borers. The following is a page of control for squash borers : Controlling Squash Vine Borers
Squash borer


Clean up: If borers infest your plants, pull out the vines and throw them in the trash before the end of the season. This prevents the worms from crawling out of the stems in July and August and overwintering in the soil.

Work the soil: Till the soil in spring or fall to disturb any cocoons from worms that make it into the ground.

Use a trap crop: Plant an extra 'Hubbard' squash; it's one of the borer's favorites and will usually be one of the first varieties they'll infest. Once you see it under attack, remove the entire vine and throw it in the garbage.

Practice crop rotation: Move your squash to a different section of your garden every year. That way if the cocoons do overwinter, the moths will have a hard time finding your vines to lay their eggs.

Barriers: Prevent squash vine borers from boring by wrapping squash stems in a barrier, such as nylon cloth or burlap.

Kill the worms: If you notice the infestation early, carefully use a sharp knife to make a vertical cut along the stem where you see the borer hole. Remove the borer and cover that section of stem with soil or compost.

Apply insecticides: Because the borers live inside the stems, it's best to think of insecticides as a preventive measure. Apply products such as insecticidal soap or carbaryl every week for three to six weeks in June and July when the moths are active.

I'm wondering if your white bodied bugs are aphids. If so, that's also why you have an over abundance of ants. The ants protect the aphids and feed off of a nectar that is given off by the aphids. I have found liquid kelp kills aphids. Just mix some with plain water and spray it on affected plants.