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a pest problem

CP30

A Cajun(isc) Carnivore
Instead of describing my pest problem I will post pics. I have isolated the 2 trays of infected plants and I have treated with commercial Orthene and it seems to be doing the trick, but what are these? I have never had to deal with these before. Should I do anything else (other than the Orthene)? How could I prevent these in the future?

this was a fully loaded U dichotoma - green from one side to the other!
IMG_0694.jpg

Kind of hard to see in the above, but they love the white plant tags
IMG_0693.jpg

Now they seem to be fleeing, but the dome is keeping them somwhat contained - - I HOPE!
IMG_0696.jpg

The poor utrics are flowering for their life!
IMG_0690.jpg



thanks for your help!
 
Given the size and number I would guess those are springtails. They are generally harmless and provide a good food source for Utricularia and Pinguicula.

Do they hop or spring away when disturbed (although not all species do this).?
 
no they do not hop or spring away, but they have completed devoured 3 pots of utrics and have infected many others (unless the demise of the utrics is a coincidence...hmmmmm...hadn't considered that).
 
I suppose you can try submerging the pots, although some springtails are semi-aquatic and you can find hordes of them (as you have there) happily floating on top of water.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do about them. Insecticides will only provide temporary relief. They'll be back!

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74136.html#MANAGEMENT
 
Hmmm - I will try to get better pics, but without a macro lens I may not get anything better.

Thanks for your help, though
 
lol if you think that's alot you shoulda seen my pot when i thought i had an aphid problem, i flooded it and THOUSANDS more or less of those things came floating to the top(i asked and it was springtails). i had some blacks one and some white ones(springtails) and now.... my drosera pot is actually doing ALOT BETTER!. dont know why its supposedly harmless, it was definitely harming my drosera... now i have capensis that i never knew i had in the pot(dont know where it came from).
 
Most likely the aphids were your problem. Springtails eat decaying matter. A massive infestation could conceivably cause your media to breakdown and return the nutrients to the pot but then you'd still have the nutrient problem even if the springtails were gone.

Utricularia tend to break down peat rather rapidly and you need to change the media more often than with other CPs.
 
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