I have small silver bugs in my soil and I don't know what they are I have tried a indoor pestacide that has di-syston and phosphorodithioate in it and does not seem to even touch them. They don't like it but, it doesn't get rid of them, I am also wondering if they are harmful to my palms. I have may washingtonia filifera seedlings and juvies and they are in the soil, They seem to be growing ok but I am wondering if these bugs could be stunting there growth or will eventually kill them. Help!!! how do I get rid of them without harming my palms!!! THANK YOU FOR ALL HELP. TOM C
Tom, can you describe or post a photo of the bugs? Are they oval with an armadillo shell? If so, then they are pill or sow bugs.
Yes they are oval they are very small about the size of the head of a nail I know when I water they come to the top of the soil.
I have a similar silver pest living in my soil except they are not sow or pill bugs. They are much smaller have have a slender pointy body. Silver in color. I think they might jump a bit when I irritate them. But not fleas. And there are hundreds of THEM! What are they?
Same ones I have yeah they jump and they really hate water. I have no Idea what they are. I told my local home depot and nursery and they had no idea. Can anybody help us? Tom24
Perhaps what you have is silverfish? I have not seen them in plants before, but they like decomposing material. Check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish
I have just the same problem! Except mine are white, oval shaped, about 1-1.5 mm long, and they live in the soil of my butterwort plant. My sundew looks like it came from the same place, but it didn't have that problem. Also, my butterwort's soil is collapsing conically, and the plant (which has gotten very, very small for some reason) is almost buried!!!
Ive seen silver fish before. They are a lot larger have antanae and legs and stuff. These things are so small I took a picture but I don't think the 4 mega pixels is enough to view them. I will try to capture one tomorrow morning and get a good picture of it on a black background.
Here is another site that may be more helpful. It lists photos sent in by people wanting to identify the bugs. See if your bug is on the list: http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/Questions/What is this pest.htm
Oh, and I do recommend using a scanner for getting images of bugs if you don't have a macro lens on your camera / aren't familiar with how to use macro features.
Sorry it's not too optimistic, but if you want to see what they might do, see "Curse of the Little White Bugs".
Nope! Not springtails! Nor are they larval fungus gnats! I have these little buggers on my jade bonsai AND an orchid and I'm going back to everywhere I went in my research and answering their same question. These guys are totally Thrips! Specifically, Thrips Palmi or "Melon Thrips." Thrips are less than 1mm and they have a silver, white, or yellow almond shaped body. They move around the top layer of soil very quickly by scuttling. The thrips themselves do minimal damage even in large numbers but can stunt or warp growth by feeding on terminal shoots, the undersides of leaves, and buddling flowers or fruits. The thrips carries Watermelon silver mottle virus that makes your leaves turn silver and shrivel up, as well as Ground nut bud necrosis. This kind of thrips (yea, thrips is pl. and sing.) generally hosts on tropical plants like jade, orchids, citron etc. Here is an article on them: http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/parrella/rose pma thrips.html Hope this helps!
