Root Aphids, Fungus Gnats, and other fun bugs (ID PICS)

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Dirtbag

Dirtbag

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Video shows the big fungus gnat larvae squirming around and the 3 tiny ones fighting over scraps at the bottom of the tray in collected runoff.
You may notice a little white guy wiggling back and forth right above/over top the larvae.
It's not chewing on the larvae. Its actually at surface and would be the springtail. Only thing I can think it is due to its behavior and description as well as size and appearance. They are ghost white and look like they have little antenna on their heads.View attachment 856684
That's for sure a springtail. I'm sure you know this but for others reading, they're harmless.

Those damn fungus gnats are mostly just a nuisance too. I've found them to be pretty much impossible to get rid of once you have them. Imid is about the only thing that will totally wipe them out but I would never recommend using it just for fungus gnats. Better off just putting a ton of sticky traps over the soil.
 
Stockbull

Stockbull

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Yes, I only just found out what the springtail were a few days ago.
Good to know I've got at least somethin good going on down under.

Only this last while I've checked the runoff for things besides PPM and PH.
Was a bit of a shock at first seeing them squiggly guys down there, but really cool as well in being able to indentify the pesky things in the runoff.
Yellow sticky traps, as you say, all over to catch the flys and stop them landing and popping out hundreds more of themselves. They can get ahead of one pretty quick.
Good airflow right at the base of the plants really seems to keep them at bay as the gnats cant fight the wind to get to damp soil and start multiplying themselves.
A good breeze also helps to dry the top layer of soil off faster, thus less inviting for gnats to nest down.
I also placed some slices of potatoe at the soil surface, nestled in maybe half an inch or so which attracted the larvae to it. Next day turn it over and you will capture a decent amount. Then just toss the potatoe larvae and all.
 
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Buttercup726

Buttercup726

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Nice thread!!

FG or RA thoughts?
 
H

Hdinkleman

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i found some wormy type bugs in the first couple inches of my soil, i believe it is fungus gnat larvare.
i have some organic pesticides at my disposal.
i have microbe lift, botanigard es, pyrethrum, spinosad and sticky cards.
which one do i use for these larvae?
i have only seen one flying fungus gnat so far, but have seen at least 4-5 larvae.
i sprinkled some DE on the topsoil, not sure how much it will work, but i put one of the larvae on top of a chunk of it and it squirmed alot and then seemed to stop moving so i dont know if it “cut” the larvae up.
any help would be great thanks
 
Dirtbag

Dirtbag

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What stage are your plants in? I battled FG's for almost 2 years straight in a perpetual grow. Tried Neem oil, spinosad drenches, Diatomaceous earth, yellow sticky traps, rice hulls, sand, hydrogen peroxide... but what eventually killed them was two applications of Merit 75 in pre-veg. Nuked everything in the room including the FG's, Although I used it mainly for root aphids I had at the time.

My takeaway is nothing worked for me on those sneaky persistent bastards besides merit. That said, they also didnt do a lot of damage either. Mainly just annoying. I wouldn't use merit just for FG's. Just rice hulls and sticky traps is enough to keep the numbers down. The annoying part is you have to keep scoping them to make sure they arent winged root aphids.
 
Seraphine

Seraphine

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Grateful to see this thread is still active as it has some of the cleanest photos of pests on google!

I've been trying to deal with a possible pest/beneficial and I'm still not sure what I have after going through this thread (as well as 7 weeks of internet searches and a few visits to the local hydro. I know I have fungus gnats but can't determine if these other things are beneficial or not. The local store said they looked like root aphids, but they look closer to mites to me, they just seem so much more hairy than most of the pics I can find and I'm not positive on the leg count although it looks like 8 there are smaller ones of the same shape.

I initially discovered them on a leaf in mid veg, but after an initial treatment of Nuke Em, I never saw them on the plant parts again. I also introduced Z7 to my regular watering and from this point they were discovered on the outside of my grow pots and seem to collect in the water trays underneath which is the source of the pictures. I've also used SNS 203 and Monterey Takedown Garden Spray all with seemingly instant kill results with the population being slowed down but not eliminated I believe due to them being in the soil and all the treatments I've done are sprays.

I also included a picture of the pistils browning prematurely (imo) that might be due to these issues. I'm in week 5 of flower and can't find some of the sources I've been reading that led me to think this.

Veganic NYCD in 100% coco
Did you ever find out what these are? I’ve had some on the veg plants and now flower. I grow coco. They don’t appear to be eating the leaves but I am positive I’ve seen their little round eggs on the leaves which makes me think they are some kind of mite. I’ve been doing azamax and spinosad soil drench too in order to kill them systemically if they are eating the leaves.
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

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Has anybody used merit 75 or bayer tree and shrub shortly after sowing seeds? I have a crazy root aphid infestation in my compost pile and greenhouses. I have added beneficial nematodes to the pile but still have RA's just in lower numbers. Im wondering if adding the imid from sprout will have any ill effects on the seedlings? Anybody tried this?
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

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Has anybody used merit 75 or bayer tree and shrub shortly after sowing seeds? I have a crazy root aphid infestation in my compost pile and greenhouses. I have added beneficial nematodes to the pile but still have RA's just in lower numbers. Im wondering if adding the imid from sprout will have any ill effects on the seedlings? Anybody tried this?
Adonis 75 did not have very ill effects on seedlings. Slight leaf tip scorch on a few, but they all look great now. Adonis 75 and beneficial nematodes seem to be working well for me.
 
n00bpharmer

n00bpharmer

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Sorry to break it to ya, but it looks like your suspicions are warranted

it will be fun fighting these guys. if I take a clone from this particular infested plant, will the clone suffer and carry the disease with it?
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

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it will be fun fighting these guys. if I take a clone from this particular infested plant, will the clone suffer and carry the disease with it?
I would treat the clone as soon as it's well rooted with imidacloprid and beneficial nematodes.
 
Luckydux

Luckydux

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Anyone know how small can a root aphid can be? Over the past 2wks my clones have been taking longer to root so I pulled one out of its plug and scoped it and didn't like what i saw. It looked like a pic I've seen of a hypoaspis miles mite but also looks like a tiny RA. No chance it could of been seen without a scope which is why I'm asking
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

244
143
Anyone know how small can a root aphid can be? Over the past 2wks my clones have been taking longer to root so I pulled one out of its plug and scoped it and didn't like what i saw. It looked like a pic I've seen of a hypoaspis miles mite but also looks like a tiny RA. No chance it could of been seen without a scope which is why I'm asking
Yeah the soil mite and root aphid are similar in size.
 
Scottyyy23

Scottyyy23

16
3
Hey everybody! Hope this helps ID problems with some common garden pests and critters.

Root Aphids (Aphidoidea)

"Root Aphid" is a broad term describing an unknown number of species of aphids that can attack crop roots. They are most commonly seen outdoors, where they feed on leaves of plants and overwinter either as a dormant egg or as a colony feeding on stored sugars/starches in plant roots. Indoors they are common pests due to the concentration of sugars, amino acids, and nutrients in the roots. Aphid eggs are sought after by some species of ants, who will nurture a colony of aphids to feed on their sugar and nutrient rich excrement. A common misunderstanding is the referencing of Root Aphids to phylloxera, which is another family of insects that is very similar to aphids but lacks the telltale "tailpipes" and "honeydew" discharge that distinguishes aphids.

here are some pictures of root aphids in their winged or "flier" form

View attachment 301449View attachment 301452
you can see by these images that the winged aphid holds it's wings parallel and vertical, at the sides of it's body. It's head is similar sized to the rest of the body, and it's abdomen is either green, yellow, brown/red, or black depending on diet. It's legs are also all of a similar size (male aphids can have quite long legs, however). Immature aphids can also be seen in the bottom picture.

"crawler" form:

View attachment 301448
Notice the "tailpipes" (cornicles) on the abdomen of the aphid. These protect it when it feels threatened by producing a hard, waxlike substance that coats the aphid's exterior. This aphid was unique in that it displayed many of the common colors of root aphids. Depending on what they feed on and their maturity aphids can be any shade of either yellow, green, or red, and occasionally black/brown.

an example of aphid colonization/infestation

View attachment 301447

View attachment 301446





Fungus Gnats (Mycetophiloidea)

Fungus gnats are generally obnoxious because they get stuck in flowers in large numbers. Since their larva eat decaying matter, a growing population of fungus gnats generally indicates either over-watered plants/over saturated media, or an unhealthy root mass. Females will travel from pot to pot looking for optimum conditions to lay eggs. Females lay eggs in the top 2-3 inches of soil and can lay up to 200 in her 10 day life. Both the eggs and the larvae are very cold resistant, but cannot survive without a moist environment. It is recommended to let the top 2-3 inches of soil dry out between waterings in most media to avoid fungus gnats, especially late in flower.

Fungus Gnat flier:

View attachment 301450

View attachment 301451
You can see that fungus gnats have three definitive body segments, very long legs, and wings that overlap and fold flat over it's abdomen. They are generally much larger than winged root aphids.

Fungus Gnat larvae

View attachment 301453View attachment 301454 The brown inside this guy is whatever he's been eating...probably roots as this picture was taken very late in flush. Normally they are clear like the section directly before his head. You can see his black head as well as his body segments, very similar to a caterpillar or inchworm.


And last but not least, a beneficial insect, the springtail

View attachment 301444

these guys resemble thrips, but are very small, clear, and can dart away quite quickly. Usually found in the runoff of pots after watering, having a springtail population isn't something to worry about. It is a sign that the soil biosphere (the rhizosphere) is balanced and in check. Springtails are known to eat spores and mycelia of pathogenic fungi that can cause damping off, as well as carry mycorhizzal fungi to root hosts, and control other forms of microlife that become imbalanced or disrupt the rhizosphere. Springtails are estimated to have some of the highest populations of any animals on earth, and play an important role in soil conditioning.
View attachment 301445
Springtails are nice to eachother, they know what's up. They're you're friends, too!


That's all for now folks, thanks for lookin!
Great, huge help, been struggling to find the bugs, but they're definitely spring tails that's great news
 

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