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Can someone identify this bug?

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Can someone identify this bug?

bibsoconner 21 Replies 3,779 Views
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bibsoconner

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#1
Can someone help me identify this bug? Very small, about the size of a flea on a dog. Has wings. Aphid? Termite? There are quite a lot of them, not on the leaves but actually on the soil itself. Sorry I can't figure out how to get a video that is small enough to post. Approximately 1/3 from left and 1/3 down you'll see him. He's got his head towards bottom of picture and has two wings. Black body, white wings.
What is this, and is it a pest? If so, how to treat? Incidentally, we just had some rain and they appeared after that (I think!).
Thanks all!

Can someone identify this bug
 
#2
Looks like a blue spider wasp, it’s early spring so they are around everywhere this time of year.
 
#7
i have those in my yard after a rain when the temp is up.
in my paranoia i called an exterminator.
their called sugar ants here and are nothing to worry about.
 
#8
steamroller said:
Fungus gnat for the win~!
You want them gone or under control.
www.bing.com

fungus gnat - Bing

Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you.
www.bing.com www.bing.com
Click to expand...
hmmm so close. OP - what's it's end abdomen look like? and for safety i'd get some yellow sticky traps ASAP (fungus gnat below)

fungus-gnat-super-closeup.jpg
 
#9
do you have a better pic of them?
because i can't see shit with all the fuzz
 
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#10
Thanks everyone. @dean1963 , I'll try and get some better pictures tomorrow. It's tough because they are so small. @Cirroji I'll try and look at the abdomen, but like I said, they are SMALL, and my eyes are old. @steamroller , might be a fungus gnat. We've certainly had damp conditions recently if that's relevant. Maybe somebody can just recommend a poisson that will kill all of the above? How about something markets as "Deadly to all carbon based life forms, except cannabis."?
In the meantime, here's a movie for your viewing pleasure. I had to get my daughter involved to cut the movie size down to manageable size. Her price? Some of my bud :)
 

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#11
Get Mosquito bits { BTI] and yellow sticky traps.
The Mosquito bits are a bacteria that kills the bugs and there eggs which are in your soil.
When you see them like in your video they have infested the soil.
The sticky traps catch the ones that have hatched and found their way to the surface.
summitchemical.com

Using Mosquito Bits® to Control Fungus Gnats - Summit® Responsible Solutions

The active ingredient in Mosquito Bits® is a biological larvacide called BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis). BTI is a naturally occurring bacterium that’s deadly to both mosquito larvae and fungus gnat larvae.
summitchemical.com summitchemical.com
 
#12
bibsoconner said:
Thanks everyone. @dean1963 , I'll try and get some better pictures tomorrow. It's tough because they are so small. @Cirroji I'll try and look at the abdomen, but like I said, they are SMALL, and my eyes are old. @steamroller , might be a fungus gnat. We've certainly had damp conditions recently if that's relevant. Maybe somebody can just recommend a poisson that will kill all of the above? How about something markets as "Deadly to all carbon based life forms, except cannabis."?
In the meantime, here's a movie for your viewing pleasure. I had to get my daughter involved to cut the movie size down to manageable size. Her price? Some of my bud :)
Click to expand...
They don't move like fungus gnats but that could just be hitchiness in the video.

I recently recovered from a bad infestation. I used ground mustard seed to knock them down. (If you do that, be careful because I did kill a lot of seedlings by using too much.) A week later I added rove beetles and beneficial nematodes. I mulched well to provide rove beetle habitat.

Since then I have been seeing one a day but twice as many rove beetles trying to find the rest of them, and occasionally helicoptering around the house.

I've always had a few fungus gnats and that's not a big deal if they're part of a healthy insect population. At least that's my hope.
 
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#13
You mentioned rain so I assume you are growing outside. I understand termites to be like flying ants and and bigger than fleas. Eggs that are in potting soil and hot soils hatch and show themselves, in the organics I use, and I have used flypaper in my tent. Many pest killer devices also attract the bugs in order to eliminate them.
 
#14
bibsoconner said:
Thanks everyone. @dean1963 , I'll try and get some better pictures tomorrow. It's tough because they are so small. @Cirroji I'll try and look at the abdomen, but like I said, they are SMALL, and my eyes are old. @steamroller , might be a fungus gnat. We've certainly had damp conditions recently if that's relevant. Maybe somebody can just recommend a poisson that will kill all of the above? How about something markets as "Deadly to all carbon based life forms, except cannabis."?
In the meantime, here's a movie for your viewing pleasure. I had to get my daughter involved to cut the movie size down to manageable size. Her price? Some of my bud :)
Click to expand...
if i remember right for fungus gnats - my mom would do the hand-till everyday of the top couple inches of soil and make sure it stayed dried and aired out, when dried she would add a scoop of DE meant to stay on that topsoil area - that they prefer the top soil and keeping that proper would be the best preventative care. i'll have to ask her tomorrow when i see her.
 
#15
They look like either termites or flying ants.termites have 2 wings the exact same size on each side.flying ants front wings are bigger than the back.
 
#17
bibsoconner said:
Can someone help me identify this bug? Very small, about the size of a flea on a dog. Has wings. Aphid? Termite? There are quite a lot of them, not on the leaves but actually on the soil itself. Sorry I can't figure out how to get a video that is small enough to post. Approximately 1/3 from left and 1/3 down you'll see him. He's got his head towards bottom of picture and has two wings. Black body, white wings.
What is this, and is it a pest? If so, how to treat? Incidentally, we just had some rain and they appeared after that (I think!).
Thanks all!

View attachment 1352024
Click to expand...
Entomology check out Google scholar there are alot of college extensions for the study of bugs to find out exactly what it is for me I don't kill any bugs anymore unless I find out what they do and if they can damage my house or leave me sick. I'm not sure what that bug is but it might be some type of parasitic wasp here's a pic of a Black Solider Flie I raise them for chicken food , garden frass, and worm food
 

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#18
I agree with Steamroller...

Get some Mosquito Bits and dump about a cup into a gallon of water. Let it sit
for a couple hours (stirring gently occasionally), then give a good soaking to each
of your plants. If it is a bad bug, that's going to kill off any larvae rooting around
in your soil.

That, plus a bunch of yellow sticky traps set close to your pots should take care
of the issue. Be vigilant..seeing one fungus gnat means there's bunches you're
not seeing.
 
#19
ISO2BWELL said:
I agree with Steamroller...

Get some Mosquito Bits and dump about a cup into a gallon of water. Let it sit
for a couple hours (stirring gently occasionally), then give a good soaking to each
of your plants. If it is a bad bug, that's going to kill off any larvae rooting around
in your soil.

That, plus a bunch of yellow sticky traps set close to your pots should take care
of the issue. Be vigilant..seeing one fungus gnat means there's bunches you're
not seeing.
Click to expand...
I have taken mosquitoe bits and soaked them in a jar of water for 5days. Then I took that water and add it to milk with a little Beauveria bassiana. I took that whey mixed it with equal parts brown sugar. Somehow it works 💪
 
#20
Update: I was going to try and capture one of the little critters and take better pictures and/or take to garden store. However, no more bugs! Not sure what's going on. Perhaps as rain stopped and everything dried out they moved along? Anyhow, I'll keep an eye out for them. Thanks all!
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