Question

Bug on houseplant   QUESTION: Hello I have been battling some sort of gnat around my house plants. while trying to prevent and get rid of these gnats I noticed some black spots on my plants. when I 100x zoomed on the black dot I noticed it is a bug itself. I'm not sure if they are just a sort of juvenile gnat that I'm already dealing with or if its a whole new bug all together. I have been searching all over the web to match the picture I have. I have had no luck identifying this bug please help me. The picture I have attached is 100x zoom through a little lens w/light I have. to the naked it looks like a black dot the size of spec of sand. This is the only live one I have found.

ANSWER: Nicole,

The gnat you describe is probably a dark winged fungus gnat (see http://www.livingwithbugs.com/fungus_gnat.html for info and a drawing). Fungus gnat larvae commonly infest house plant soil and look like tiny translucent worms, not what is pictured. The image you've attached appears to be a very young, immature aphid (see http://www.livingwithbugs.com/aphids.html for info about aphids on house plants). Do you see larger aphids on the leaves as well? See the pages cited above for control of both pests and post a follow up if you have questions.

Jack DeAngelis


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Jack for answering my question.  I have seen adult winged aphids no adult non-winged aphids on the plants. I actually think that the winged adults are what I believed were the gnats. So turns out there is no gnat problem just the aphids.  We pyrethrum bombed the area and neem oiled the foliage and top of the soil. All bugs seem to be gone for the time being do you think they will return or is this just a long lasting defense against them? Are lady bugs predators of these aphids? Someone reccomended that I buy some lady bugs to help with the problem as well so just wondering if that might help. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. Again thank you for your time and effort you put into answering my question.

Answer
Aphids will almost always return at some point, and some plants are more susceptible than others. Neem oil is good but insecticidal soap (see http://www.livingwithbugs.com/insecticidal_soap.html for details) will work better and is less expensive. Lady beetles are predators of aphids but they can be difficult to keep alive over the long term, they are also slow to achieve control.

Jack DeAngelis