What kind of bug is this?

somegeek · Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:20 am

[img]https://somegeek.home.comcast.net/garden_bug.jpg[/img]

The bug is around 1-2mm long. Took this macro shot on my kitchen counter when this fell off a plant I brought inside. Don't know if we had these before but just this last weekend we had some very warm weather (75FÃ‚Âº or so) and we saw these little guys all over our raised beds on the wood. A slight bump to the wood and they'd jump. They squish easily under your thumb. What are they?

Thanks,
somegeek

The Helpful Gardener · Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:29 am

Where is this SG? Need to narrow it down some...

HG

somegeek · Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:46 am

The Helpful Gardener wrote:Where is this SG? Need to narrow it down some...

HG

Located in Southwest Washington state.

The Helpful Gardener · Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:43 am

Hard to tell from the photo but I think this is a black aphid. Best bet is ladybugs, but most light organic pesticides (Safer's Soap, neem, light oil) should knock them down. But I really like lady bugs; effective and completely harmless...

HG

chefshelle · Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:19 am

We had a critter, similar to that one, in our garden last year. My father-in-law, who is an entomologist, told me to spray the plants with a water and dish soap mix. It worked! I don't remember exactly how much soap I used, but I don't think it took much.

The Helpful Gardener · Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:50 am

Soap, not detergent which can strip leaves and burn them...

HG

!potatoes! · Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:30 pm

that's a collembolan, more commonly known as a springtail. I think they're mostly detritovores, and won't mess with plants, but a bit a research should clear it up for you. that is absolutely NOT an aphid if it jumps.

somegeek · Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:53 pm

Are they good or bad? Leav'em be or put down some soap? I tried some insecticidal soap on my raised bed boards and they were back the next day.

The Helpful Gardener · Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:11 pm

Tater is right again; this is not a species I am familiar with (ours don't look like that around here), but I should have picked up on the jumping clue like he did. Totally harmless, in fact beneficial as it contributes to natural nitrogen cycling...

Good call !potatoes!

HG

!potatoes! · Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:43 pm

cheers. I wrote a paper on collembolans for my basic invertebrate zoology course in college (years ago), and I've got a kind of soft spot for them (and, to be fair, for most insects)...the project that graduated me was an insect taxonomy paper, too. which is obviously why I now work in a grocery store.

The Helpful Gardener · Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:00 pm

Honest to goodness LOL on that one! Well it DID finally come in handy after all...

HG

somegeek · Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:09 am

Thanks for the reply. Good to know they're just hanging out to help.

Gary350 · Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:07 am

Is the tiny little bug a problem? Is it eating your plants? Some bugs like wood. Roaches love wood and mulch but they will not hurt the plants. I use to put mulch around the trees and bushes in the yard and we had millions of wood roaches in the yard after dark. I don't mulch anymore so we no longer have wood roaches. Unless the bug is a problem don't worry about it.

The Helpful Gardener · Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:45 am

G350, this isn't even an insect (anymore). It's been relegated to it's own class...

The one in the photo is a genus called Sminthurinae, and like all other columbolans, it is a detrivore (feeds on decaying matter), so it won't mess with plants. Some folks have talked about human interactions and how the columbolans "bite", but it turns out that when they spring off of human flesh the furcula (spring) and retiniculum (tensioner) can pinch, causing a "bite). I've been up to my eye teeth in these things and it hasn't happened to me yet, but I am thick skinned from my years on the Forums...

HG