Thrip or Springtail?
 

This Dryadella albicans has been in quarantine for about 30 days before I add it to my main collection. I was inspecting before adding it, and found this. Sorry about the image quality, that's about the max magnification I can get with my magnifying lense:

https://i.imgur.com/MXFtkpS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3F6goz0.jpg

It's 1mm at most, not moving and not jumping when I prod it (which would be odd for a springtail), but there isn't any damage to the Dryadella, including new growth. Just want to make sure it's benign before mixing the plant with everything else. I don't see wings when I view it with my loupe, which is slightly better resolution than I can catch with my phone.

Doesn't look like the thrips that I am familiar with, which are black and are more long and narrow (though tiny) . And they definitely move when prodded. But I don't know if they have different appearance in different places.

The nymphs are white or yellow

Greenhouse Thrips

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...s/14-001f2.jpg

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...s/14-001f3.jpg

Not a thrip, congrats :)

it could still be an aphid. Not as bad but still aphids do cause damage.

I'm sure you have continued to monitor & inspect since your last post. Have you noticed more infestation on this plant?

I would think a springtail or thrip would be quick to move if prodded. Even an aphid would at least start crawling when prodded. From what I see in your photo, there is only one insect on your orchid. Where there more than one, or is that the only one you photographed?

I know possible (unknown) pests can be a 'good, bad, and ugly' type thing. The good... you had this plant in quarantine, you are paying attention to the unknown, no visible damage to the plant that you can see, and you are trying to control the possibility of an 'ugly' scenario. Doesn't get better than that!

I can see around 5 of the bugs on the plant currently. Still no noticeable damage, and they don’t move when I poke them. Someone suggested it could be molts, but I’m still not sure of what. Pretty sure it’s not aphids, thrips or springtails, though.

I swear thrips are the smartest pest of them all. They see you looking at them and then they run for their lives and hide like cochroaches.

Very well could be a springtail molt.

Hey clawhammer, your description of them made me tackle my own thrip problem. I was in denial for too long but I finally spotted some thrip damage and started to investigate. In total I have "washed" over 30 pots now, once I did one pot another one would show signs.

So a good way to spot thrips is to use a torch and blow on the substrate. If there are thrips, first of all they glimmer or shine in light, second they scurry for shelter as soon as you blow on them so doing this if you spot movement you have thrips living in the pot - and that is where they hide 99% of times which is why they are so resilient. Cause they seem to be fairly simple to kill but seem to be either resistant to my store bought thrip spray or manage to hide well enough.

Ok so what does washing the pot involve and is it better than spraying the orchid?

What I have been doing is get a big vase, drip one drop of washing up liquid in there, then add water from tap to make it foam up lots, I then submerge the whole pot slowly into the water and watch any thrips hop to the surface where they die on contact with the soapy water.

It's quite satisfying to see and after having just ignored them and use my spray to no avail I have decided to go for this wash the whole pot approach.

I then rinse the whole thing well under the tap to rinse out any remaining thrips and soap and the orchid is good to go.

I am pretty sure I spotted 3 different varieties of thrips this past week. So far the results are promising. I'm expecting a few might have survived but considering how well they have evaded me, seemingly more resilient than roaches... just a drop of soap absolutely annihilates them.

Sorry to hear you have thrips, but look at the bright side, once you eradicate them you will be amazed by the improvements to the appearance and longevity of your blooms :)

Now for the bad news, thrips are very hard to eradicate because of their behavior and their lifecycle. Washing the plant while watering is just one of the tools I used in my long war.

I made almost no progress until I bought Conserve (not the less expensive spinosad products) and used it every 3 days for 2 months. Also important, replace a few of those treatments with another pesticide like imidacloprid or azamax.

Good luck!~