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05-07-2022, 05:24 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 101
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Help me identify this small black insect pest
These small black insects were hiding under the "soil line" in my chysis bractscens and went crazy when I watered it. They don't seem to be occupying the leaves, rather an area of decomposing old roots, or new roots maybe? Any idea what they are and how I should treat them? My first guess is aphids but let me know if someone knows more please!
Last edited by Grim Tuesday; 05-07-2022 at 05:28 PM..
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05-07-2022, 05:40 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2019
Zone: 4a
Location: Montana, U.S
Posts: 454
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Looks like springtails, they should be harmless or even beneficial.
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05-07-2022, 06:54 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Fuerteventura, Canary Islands
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They look like a tiny black beetle to me. Some arrived in an orchid from a shop and quickly multiplied in that plant pot, the plant eventually gave up but that might have been for other reasons. Unfortunately some had moved to other pots and it's been an ongoing battle to get rid of them. All my orchids are in S/H and the best results come from copious flushings.
A year or two ago someone ID'd them on this forum with pics that matched my pests but I can't for the life of me remember the name. I've searched and searched on here ....
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05-07-2022, 10:49 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 101
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Afid
Looks like springtails, they should be harmless or even beneficial.
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I think you're right! Combination of the fact that they were springing out of the media and that they were in the decomposing part of the media, not the leaves.
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05-08-2022, 02:51 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,586
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Do they jump or run? Photos are small but I also wonder about cockroach babies.
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05-17-2022, 12:15 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 52
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I just found the same pest
Thee little black pests just showed up today on a Miltassia putting out it's first flower spike. The brown area on the leaf is very old, happened about a year ago.
I have the plant segregated, how do I get rid of these before they spread to other orchids.
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05-17-2022, 01:35 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,586
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Are those bugs or black spots?
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05-17-2022, 01:38 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 52
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slow moving, crawling bugs. Appeared overnight.
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05-17-2022, 02:05 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2022
Zone: 8b
Location: Olympia, WA
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The photos aren't clear enough to say what that pest is with any certainty. Could be springtails that temporarily jumped up out of the way of the watering can, but it could be something else. If they are always on the actual plant, it's a clear sign that they are not springtails.
Springtails don't usually hang out on the plants (foliage, p-bulbs, etc.). They prefer the conditions in the pot. They may jump up onto the plant when you water but should settle back into the root zone and disappear from sight shortly after. If they are springtails, you don't need to worry about them or do anything to get rid of them. They don't harm living plants.
Saw the "slow-moving crawling bugs" comment - those are not spring tails.
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05-17-2022, 03:33 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 52
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Any recommendations for an insecticide? I prefer a commercial brand rather than home made.
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