Help, Please - Infection Identification & Treatment Advice
 

I thought my orchid collection was doing well, but today I noticed that the bases all have lots of pests in them. I haven't had any new orchids in almost a year. I don't know what to do and I'm having trouble identifying the pest type. I am in a real panic. I have seen two types of pests. A small brown-black crawling one (left arrow) and the white spider-like one (right arrow). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

There's not a lot of detail visible, but you either have scale or mealy bugs, or both.

Additional Information
 

Thank you for your response.

Sorry about the photograph issues. I have seen both Scale and Mealy Bugs before and was always able to identify their presence on a plants' leaves. I have carefully examined all foliage and there are no signs of scale or white fuzzy bugs. I'm seeing the pests in the saucers when I lift the plants.

As a side note - my Phalaenopsis and Zygopetalum plants are grown inside on a windowsill. Also, do not have access to an outdoor area for application of an intense treatment since I live in an apartment.

Have you checked hidden spaces, like under leaf sheathes, between leaf bases, even on roots?

The resolution is not good enough to tell what they are. If your plants are otherwise healthy, these are unlikely to be harmful. Be sure the light one isn't an aphid. They might even be beneficial bugs that control bad ones.

It's hard to say from the pictures but I also lean toward aphid for the light one.

This is guesswork based on your photo: As you have had trouble photographing them I am assuming they are very small. Even my phone camera can easily resolve a scale insect or aphid, so they must be smaller still. The brown one on the left is very round and looks slightly shiny at maximum resolution. I would guess that is an Orobatid mite, which is a harmless creature that feeds on decaying matter. As you are seeing them at the base of the plants and in the saucers, I would be fairly sure that is what they are. Also you have not seen any damage on your plants which is in keeping with these harmless mites. Look them up on the internet and have a good look at them with a magnifying glass. Can't help you with the spidery thing on the right, but it is unlikely to be an aphid given the scale of it if the other ones are orabatids. Hope that helps

Sorry having trouble editing my post, should be Oribatid mite