Springtail? Population explosion!

[AndreaK]

Our air conditioner went out last year and the expense to replace it is so high we have been toughing it out. Actually, it has not been very bad. The other night though, we were invaded by these little guys. They are so numerous that I believe I will need to treat them. They appear to be springtails to me. I know that they like moist, broken down media. However, the orchids they are on were repotted recently. They are not limited to my plants; since they came in through the screens, they are in the windows and the bathroom also.

Do you agree with this id?

What should I use to reduce their numbers?

[estación seca]

Those look to me more like baby crickets, but I'm not an expert.

[isurus79]

Springtails don't harm living plants. They only eat dead stuff, so there's no need to treat them.

[PaphMadMan]

Springtail for sure. Good job on the photography of these tiny huggers. The little double-pronged springs under the tails are clear enough to see on a couple of them.

They can be extremely numerous in the environment at times, to the creepy invasion level as you experienced, but unless a large population takes up permanent residence in your pots I wouldn't worry about the orchids at all. Vacuum them up where you find them in large numbers and give it a few days and I think you'll find there are very few left.