Help identifying bugs? (Bugs are pictured)

[EleanorL]

So I've been neglecting my orchids lately, since they're not flowering at the moment, and I just checked in with them and discovered a pest explosion!

Here are some bugs on one of my phals. Second image is included for perspective.





However, the phals seem healthy - nice green roots, etc. But my paphs have some damage:



Not pictured is the very thin, flimsy white 'skin' which sometimes appears on the other side of these marks.


Are these caused by the same bug? What is it?

And finally, are these eggs? Or just sawdust, and I'm being paranoid?



The plant they come on has some red or brown discoloration on one of its leaves and pseudobulbs, and I don't know where that came from.


Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[phearamedusa]

Do these bugs fly? If so it might be whitefly.

"Not pictured is the very thin, flimsy white 'skin' which sometimes appears on the other side of these marks.


Are these caused by the same bug? What is it?"

I don't think this is bug damage, its too round. Looks like it might be water damage that has acted like a magnifying lens and "cooked the leaf" or another possibility could be ice cold water that has dripped onto the leaf. Both possibilities have similar looking damage.

For the "saw dust" take a look at it under a 10x magnifier, it could be nothing to worry about or it could be something to worry about.

[dounoharm]

why worry what they are....or what they have done or not done....JUST KILL EM!!!!! get the soap out right away, if that doesnt blast em get a systemic out and try that....just kill the boogers!

[EleanorL]

Well unless I have two kinds of pests, it turns out they are a larval form of some kind of smaller rounder black bug. I wish I had pics but they are so tiny i haven't caught them on camera yet. So I don't think they are whitefly.

Thanks for the info on the paphs. That's reassuring.

Will soap get the ones living deep in the moss? I sure hope so.

Hunting down a 10x magnifier!

Thanks!

[Des]

That looks like wooly aphid to me , what you see is usually just the tip of the ice berg ,so to speak as they may have also invaded the root system as well. If they are only on one or two plants ,then dip the whole plant into a suitable contact poison solution . And dont forget to add a wetting agent to the mix as these guys are water repellant ! Try increasing the air flow around your plants as they thrive in stale conditions