I finally caught them on film, now help!!
 

Hi everyone,
I am finally able to capture on film the most annoying buggers- i have been unable to identify them because they were so small and hard to capture on film- but most importantly THEY JUMP ewwwwwwwwww:shock:
anyhow here are a few pictures I was able to luckily capture, please help me identify and eradicate em. I've seen them in shades of white to almost dark grey- as you can see they have antennae and 6 tiny legs.....
Thanks. they've managed to get in basically all my plants, and never seem to go away-

The photos are a little fuzzy but maybe I can give you a direction to persue. I suspect they are springtails which is the insect Order Collembola. You can Google for more information. They are common insects but generally overlooked because of their size. I imagine any spray insecticide that is safe for orchids would work. Good Luck
Jim

If they are springtails, they will not hurt your orchids .. they feed on fungus and decomposing bark ..
You may check your medium to see at what degree it has broken down .. they also like high humidity .. perhaps your medium is kept too wet? :hmm
Just some random thoughts :dumb:

I've been doing a lot of research lately into composting and have read the same thing. Springtails are considered a beneficial insect and are a welcome addition to any compost bin (not that orchid pots are the same thing but you get my drift :) ). I would just pretend they aren't there. :whistling :biggrin:

They look pretty similar to the things I had recently which I guessed from descriptions were springtails.

I've also read elsewhere that they are not a problem, but I had already washed both plant and bark with soapy water by then.

The soapy water got rid of them... but maybe I should have just left them.

to me a bug is a bug.. ew

well guys--- i hate insects, i think more fear than anything, anyhow they will not go away and if they're not eating my roots or leaves or causing damage no need to fret- will obviously repot for reasons and look for signs of rot or decay- which is why they might be there in the first place. thanks for the help...:)
I've also noticed they are10x more likely to be in a bark mix then lets say sphag moss.. anyhow thats that!;)

These guys can be quite a chore to get rid of, and as mentioned, not that harmful anyway. There is also a globular form of springtail which i seem to have just as many of. They look like large dark colored mites (smaller than your critters pictured here), only about 0.5mm max. They too are jumpers. Ive found them both in bark mixes, spag moss, S/H, and on mounted orchids.