QuestionI have a small hibiscus (5' tall) that grows in a pot on my deck. As we live in Pennsylvania, I have brought it in for the winter. It is has had aphids, which I have controlled with lady bugs, but recently there has been another insect on the plant that I cannot identify. I haven't noticed any damage to the plant, but I have recently found 2 of them on the curtains in the room, so I am concerned that they will infest the house. The largest one I have seen was about 1/4" long (about the size and shape of a grain of rice). It was black and fuzzy and had 6 legs, all toward the front half of the body. The legs were all the same size and protruded slightly from the side of the body (they were not underneath). The smallest ones look like small black dots about the size of the head of a pin. The medium size are oval shaped, solid black at the front, the back half is almost clear, but has a black fuzzy fringe around the edge. They can jump, but seem to crawl most of the time. I do not see any wings. If you can give me any clue as to what they are & if they should be eliminated or just ignored, I would appreciate it. Oh, one more thing, I have been fighting the aphids since September, but have never seen these until about 2 weeks ago. We did have a real Christmas tree in the room adjoining this one. I never noticed any bugs on it or anywhere else except the hibiscus. Is it possible maybe these came into the house with the Christmas tree?
Answer"ah yes young grasshopper" as the oriental man said to the novice monk - "just about anything is possible in this vast world of bugs". many bugs overwinter in the house - mainly boxelders, ladybugs, etc. - and as w/these examples most are harmless and not considered pest. less than 1 % of insects are considered pest. many insects have larval stages w/out wings. most insects develop wings when they become adults. the ones you describe sound like the larval form of ladybugs and may therefore actually be beneficial. if you don't want to kill all the ladybugs i wouldn't advise spraying w/a pesticide. in your case if you see no damage wait till you are sure of what is happening.
get to a local garden center/nursery and see what they think. take a sample(plant and bugs) inclosed in a clear plastic bag for them to examine. seal the bag w/a twistem so they don't get out. normally they will recommend safer soap, neem, or another low toxic pesticide for spraying inside. i would have sprayed the plants w/orthenex(orthene) or similar systemic pesticide a day or two before bringing them in.
hibiscus are notoriously bothered by white fly when brought in from outside. see if they sell yellow sticky plastic pads to put in the pot to catch and kill adult flying insects. again if you think you have the problem under control w/a good natural predator by all means wait and see what happens before using a chemical pesticide.
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