can anyone help identify these

[Jugyjoy]

Hi,

I have two new Oncidiums in gorgeous bloom which are infested with some bugs. No matter how much I try I cannot work out what these are. I shook out one of the plants and caught one insect which to the naked eye looks like a fungus gnat, but under the microscope quite different. It is black, somewhat elongated and has two long black wings. The other ones are brown, rounded and very small. The nymphs are transparent, lozenge shaped and have two very long curving antennae. Unfortunately, I use the old fashioned optic microscope and cannot take pictures, but I have taken some pictures under magnification with my iPhone and am posting them here.

Would anyone know what these critters are? Any help much appreciated.

[aihpcfl]

I've been waiting to see responses and I can't wait any longer.. Have your ruled out Thrips? I have not seen them before in person, and the pictures do not look like what I see online, but when I search on your description Thrips come up as the likely answer.

Hope I'm wrong. Will still be waiting to see what others say.

[LexaCat]

I think those are aphids.

[Jugyjoy]

Hi, I certainly appreciate your reply. Thank you.

Yes, I am considering thrips, which I have never seen before and have no experience with whatsoever. The problem is that when I compare these bugs here with the pictures of thrips I see on the internet, I find none that correspond. Perhaps I have not come across the right picture yet? Will do more googling for sure.

To make matters worse I am not sure if I am dealing with one kind of pest or two. I have already mentioned seeing these little black flies, as well as the critters in the photo. The flies could be mistaken for fungus gnats, but once you see them under magnification you realise they are not. This morning found them proliferated and hanging on the wall around the pots. Is this a different species of pest, or just a different stage (or sex) of one and the same insect, I don't know.

Be that as it may, these bugs are certainly sap suckers. I can see the leaves spotted with tiny droplets of dew, the nymph maturing on the upper side of the leaves... I've cut off the flowers and now thinking what to do next.

[LexaCat]

Thrips have thinner, longer bodies than what you are showing. Aphids can have both winged and non-winged forms. I have attached an illustration below.

[aihpcfl]

Originally Posted by LexaCat

Thrips have thinner, longer bodies than what you are showing. Aphids can have both winged and non-winged forms. I have attached an illustration below.

The image in the illustration on the right looks like the insect in the photos. When I first looked at the pictures before zooming in, I thought tick! Same with the illustration.

[Jugyjoy]

Thank you both for your replies. Much appreciated.

Just a quick update. I have contacted the seller who was less than helpful and provided some phantasmagoria of bull**** by way of reply. Lo, the one thing that was of some value was that they had had (supposedly only one) orchid with aphids and blackly which "disappeared after one spray of Plant Invigorator". (Yeah, right.)

So, I will take it that I have two kinds of pest, one being some kind of aphid as LexaCat said, and the other blackfly. The bugs in the pictures are the aphids.

[aihpcfl]

Thanks for posting the update. Always valued.

[estación seca]

They do look like aphids. I haven't seen black ones for a long time. We have green and sulfur yellow ones here.