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Little...crawly...thingies?

OK every single pot in my terrarium has soil thats infested in these small white bugs. When i pour water on the soil they seem to... jump. Some of the plants i've had in pots are completly gone now and i'm guessing they ate them. My larger nepenthes seem to be unaffected. What the heck are they and how do i kill them?
 
Collembola they are. Springtails.
 
From: The Ground Crew
Common name: Springtails
Class: Insecta
Order: Collembola
Ecological niche: Scavengers
Distinguishing characteristics: A unique, tube-like
structure, the collophore, is located ventrally on
the first abdominal segment of most species.
Springtails are named for the forked jumping
organ (the furcula) found on their fourth
abdominal segment.
 
I just wanna kill the things...

They seem to dislike water. How does drowning my plants sound? How long can neps be underwater without damage to them?
 
they do no harm and youd more lileky harm your plants with a herbicide applied for no reason
 
Best treatment is to spray with a real insecticide (non petroleum based, wettable powder or water soluable Orthene, Malathion 50, and Talstar). Use as directed, never indoors. Drowning insects may not get rid of them in the long run.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Finch @ Jan. 29 2005,7:51)]they do no harm and youd more lileky harm your plants with a herbicide applied for no reason
They ate my cephalotus... they must die.
mad.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Jan. 30 2005,1:50)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Finch @ Jan. 29 2005,7:51)]they do no harm and youd more lileky harm your plants with a herbicide applied for no reason
They ate my cephalotus... they must die.
mad.gif
Springtails eat decaying material. If the Ceph was in any way already decaying I doubt they killed it (unless you checked each and every one's digestive system for Ceph traces...).
 
  • #10
[b said:
Quote[/b] (shokuchuu @ Jan. 29 2005,9:28)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Jan. 30 2005,1:50)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Finch @ Jan. 29 2005,7:51)]they do no harm and youd more lileky harm your plants with a herbicide applied for no reason
They ate my cephalotus... they must die.
mad.gif
Springtails eat decaying material. If the Ceph was in any way already decaying I doubt they killed it (unless you checked each and every one's digestive system for Ceph traces...).
well something in there ate it...

I'll go by process of elimination. Kill everything, and you should eventually kill the culprit.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Jan. 30 2005,2:37)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (shokuchuu @ Jan. 29 2005,9:28)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Jan. 30 2005,1:50)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Finch @ Jan. 29 2005,7:51)]they do no harm and youd more lileky harm your plants with a herbicide applied for no reason
They ate my cephalotus... they must die.
mad.gif
Springtails eat decaying material. If the Ceph was in any way already decaying I doubt they killed it (unless you checked each and every one's digestive system for Ceph traces...).
well something in there ate it...

I'll go by process of elimination. Kill everything, and you should eventually kill the culprit.
Boy! I guess that leaves no choice for humans if that's the way you perceive it!
smile_n_32.gif
 
  • #12
wow, u r lucky to be bleesed with springtails
biggrin.gif

they are not harmful in anyway, they eat dead plants matter, and pings n dews love em to death ^^
whats not to like about em?
there prob was something else that killed your plant
just my thought
Hellz
 
  • #13
OK, so springtails are good.

There's nothing else in the tank that i can see that's causing this. I'm stumped
confused.gif
What else could be eating them?
 
  • #14
Thrips are uber damaging to plants. So are some fungi. So are some fumes. Good luck!
 
  • #15
define being eaten...What do the leaves look like? What does the damaged area look like?

Can you post a picture?
 
  • #16
There might be a sneaky snail hiding somewhere, and only comes out at night.
 
  • #17
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Trent @ Jan. 30 2005,4:32)]There might be a sneaky snail hiding somewhere, and only comes out at night.
I think you may be right. I killed 3 snails that came with my last ventricosa and i was dumb enough to put the plant in my terrarium. Would a snail make it grow abnormally? The way it grows it looks like it has 2 proto leaves
confused.gif
I always thought it was kinda cool, but might it be signs of a snail?
 
  • #18
Cephalotus making partly carnivorous/noncarnivorous leaves is a frequent occurance. It doesn't indicate some pest eating the leaves.
 
  • #19
Snails would cause something like an entire Ping. disappearing overnight.(Your original post stated something to that effect) They don't normally eat Nepenthes, but will go after soft, young Nep seedlings. Undersized, deformed growths on a Nep could be caused by mites.
 
  • #20
One thing I've found very damaging are slugs - not only do they do a lot of damage by eaten growing tips and new leaves, but they must release some toxin or something, because I've seen deformed new growth and damage spread badly when slugs had eaten a plant. Slimy, evil little blighters they are.
 
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