Question
QUESTION: Came home tonight and my pond is covered with what looks like extreamly fine grains of black sand but when you collect it is some kind of bug that jumps off like a flea. Do you know what they are, are they harmfull, where did they suddenly come from and do I need to get rid , if so how ????????????

ANSWER: They are probably aphids.  Aphids will suck on your plants.  See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/plants/plantpests.htm for more about aphids and how to try to control them.  I've never been successful.  They're a pain.  Since they're in the pond, we can't spray toxins which leaves things like mint and garlic to try to pester them.  Aphids can have population explosions or fly in from other areas.  Good luck!

Robyn


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

QUESTION: After doing some research ( through my daughters microscope - thats how small they are )I think they are springtails.These have invaded overnight, same question as before are they harmfull, where did they suddenly come from and do I need to get rid , if so how ????????????


Answer
You know, I was going to mention springtails as a possibility but they are supposed to be white and only in the early spring.  Since you said they were black, and it's almost summer, I thought they might be aphids which are more common.  Springtails do just show up one day en masse and also dissappear one day.  They are nothing to worry about.  Aside from poisons which you don't want around the pond, there's nothing you can do to get rid of them. My section on springtails is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/insect3.htm#spring
You can see it's severly deficient!  I am sorry if you indeed have sprintails, and I did not properly answer the question.  I am not an expert; I am often wrong.  There are many sites better than mine on springtails.  Here's one page on them:
http://whatsthatbug.com/springtails.html

Again, I'm sorry.  Don't worry about springtails.  They'll go away soon.