so i received a very lovely bonsai tree from a friend the other day and when i took it out of its box it was crawling with these little natty looking bugs....very very very gross! I sprayed it with diluted soapy water and they seemed to die off, but i have those brown 'pods' i've been reading about on other peoples threads (which i didn't notice until just now). It also had webbing on it as well. I took it back to the place where they bought it and the woman at the store didn't know what the bugs were and she didn't catch the brown pods either. I've picked them off but I don't know what kind of remedy to use to kill them that wouldn't harm the bonsai but would make sure they stay away for good. What are they and where do they even come from? Please help.
Soft brown soldier helmets with white insides, lining the branches are Lecanium scale insects. These overwinter under the helmets and then hatch out, crawl around for awhile and then settle in place, form new scales. It seems infested plant kept outside, brought indoors could have the crawlers appear prematurely because of warmth inside house.
ok..that answers the what part! Can i get rid of them? Should I be concerned about hm spreading to other areas of the room?
If the tree is small, rub them off individually by hand. Check it over regularly for any you miss the first time. They could spread to other plants eventually, if the plants are fairly close together. Unlikely if there is plenty of space between them.