Weird bugs in my sundew pot

[PeaceCarny]

Today when I went to check up on my drosera seedlings in their pot, I saw these really, really tiny bugs crawling around in there. They're smaller than springtails, round, cream colored, and they don't jump. Plus a strong magnifying glass is needed to view them. I tried taking pics but it was impossible to take a good one with the camera I have.

Do you guys have a hint as to what they might be and whether I should be worried or not?


Thanks,
PC

 

[carnivoure12]

I'd say it some kind of living organism.

 

[Capensis]

Mites perhaps? Don't know. Try looking up common pests and see if you can find a match.

 

[SirKristoff]

well, there are cream colored springtails that dont seem to jump much in my pots once in awhile...

 

[PeaceCarny]

I looked up a list of pests and it looks kinda like a scavenger mite. Supposedly as the name suggests, they eat dead material. Could they be eating the peat moss? That's dead sphagnum. All the seedlings are doing fine though and don't seem to be affected by them.

 

[SirKristoff]

its possible. i wouldnt worry too much about em if they arent hurting your plants, though id keep a close eye on em

 

[Not a Number]

Probably springtails, which come in many shapes, sizes and colors. Not all of them jump. Mites have 8 legs. Springtails have six legs. You probably need 10-20x magnification to identify mites.

http://www.collembola.org/taxa/collembo.htm scroll down the page and you can see the variation of shape and color.

 

[rattler]

could be mites........i run into a few in my pots.....not sure if they are eating plant material or other critters but i never see them in large numbers nor do they seem to cause issues..........

 

[watnazn]

I get them too. They don't seem to do much, I thought they were springtails.

 

[CPlantaholic]

Good call, carnivore12

I've had this bug to, and as others have said, it really does nothing, but is really annoying to me, so I always use neem oil solution to kill them off. They always pop back up in the same pot a month or 2 later