Little brown bugs. Don't know what they are?

[AonghusD]

There are these little brown bugs on my phal and havent a clue what they are.
Everybody's saying that its red spider mite or scale but they don't move plus they dont look like scale.

Just to let know its also on my french lavender and i cant get pics up cause i don't have a camera.
please help don't want them to die

[Gin]

Can you look on line and find ones that look like them? then link to here .
Without a picture it will be a guess as to what they are .Adult brown scale does not move around that we can see the young ones do . You could put a few drops of dish soap in water and wipe them down too see if it kills them , If not then a spray that is safe for roses should work . But if an oil based spray like Neem be sure to keep plant out of the sun for awhile. I don't know the affect the oil spray would have on the lavender ..

[IncredibleOrchids]

Welcome to the OrchidBoard!

Spider mites are very tiny and bright red and move around very quickly. Doesn't sound like what you have. Scales appear to not move and look like bumps on the leaves. Maybe what you have? I always start with squashing all the bugs I see with my fingers. Then take a good look at your plants every day and see if any more appear. If more appear, you should find some local advice on a bug spray. When you buy bug spray, make sure to read the label very carefully!

Good luck!

Originally Posted by AonghusD

There are these little brown bugs on my phal and havent a clue what they are.
Everybody's saying that its red spider mite or scale but they don't move plus they dont look like scale.

Just to let know its also on my french lavender and i cant get pics up cause i don't have a camera.
please help don't want them to die

[camille1585]

I'm trying to think what else it could be, but the only things that don't move and are brown are scale. There are different species of scale, so you may not recognize it as being such even though it is. Can you pick them off with your finger nail?

You don't have a camera, but do you know anyone who could take a picture for you? It's really hard to figure out what it may be otherwise, and we can only offer you guesses.

[AonghusD]

These little things are very tough because I just picked one off and squeezed them between my nails and it just walked off unharmed.
I also took a dead stem off the lavender which they probably leached to death. But anyway I got a lighter, lit it up and it went on fire for a few seconds and they just started crawling up my arm.

[val_and_graham]

Wow, very persistent pests you have, surviving a fire! Gin made a great suggestion - could you maybe put in "orchid pests" into google search and post a link to a website which contains something similar to what you see? Also, if you have a magnifying glass, it might help take a closer look to describe what you see. What damage have they caused to your plant (you mentioned a dead stem)? any markings on your leaves? Where are the pests (on the underside of the leaf, in the crown, compost?). We'll help you as much as we can.

[AonghusD]

Well the thing is they leach the plant of its food and anything above the bug will wilt and shrivel away but its a problem if I pick them off because they will find their way back to the closest plant they can find and go to the base of the plant, So if they do go back they will cause more damage than if they're near the top.

[Hedge]

Can you count any legs or describe its shape?

[AonghusD]

Right I took a closer look at it and its gold with a Freakishly big mouth and long legs for its size. I quickly rubbed them all off the orchid, put it on top of a turned over greased
bowl so they cant get it but I cant do anything with the lavender.

[AonghusD]

Originally Posted by Hedge

Can you count any legs or describe its shape?

Well its a little ball shape and about up to twenty legs and some look like they're hatching into a grub shape.