My roommate and I discovered these fuzzy little bugs (aphids, possibly?) on our pothos plant and were wondering what they were and how to get rid of them. Can anyone help?
man! that's an excellent picture!! what kind of camera/lens did you use?????? k. on to what it is. i was going to say mealy bugs. until i looked at the pic. i've never seen a close up of a mealy. i DO know that springtails have an appendage which allows them to 'jump' and it looks like your bug has such appendages. so, does it jump? or are you just seeing white fluff at the base of the leaves (where they meet the vine)?? if you're just seeing white fluffy stuff (that doesn't move too much), dip a q-tip into rubbing alcohol and touch the bugs with it. the r-a won't hurt the plant at all. in fact, it's dry up within a few minutes so no damage other than to the bugs. you can also rub the stems with the r-a to catch any eggs that might be around - be sure to hit the spots at the base of the leaves as that's where the mealy's like to be. if it's not mealy bug and is something that 'jumps' then i'd say it's springtails. i've not seen anything about dealing with them. i'd suggest trying the rubbing alcohol bit on them as well. check the plant every week and treat again if you need to. and you probably will - it's hard to get rid of them all on the first go around. if you have any other plants, check them for the bugs, too.
The bugs are more of a white fluffy mass and don't move much, so I'll try the alcohol on them and see what happens. Thanks! Oh, and the camera is a Sony 8.1 megapixel Cybershot DSC-T100. It has a great zoom and I've been able to take a lot of great pictures of bugs and flowers.
mealy bugs it is then! wow! i never knew they were that ucky!! fantabulous pics! i don't think i looked at sony before i bought a digital. i've got a nikon d80 - still learning how to use it. it does pretty good - need a better macro lens though...
