What are these bugs, and should I kill them?

spiffyzha

spiffyzha

Carnivore
Bugs. They seem to come in a variety of sizes, and both dark and light colors:
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I hate them. I hate them all so much. They showed up a couple weeks ago around when I got a new plant, and now they seem to have spread to all my outdoor (highland) nepenthes *and* my sarracenias as well. I mostly just see them hanging out in the trays near water puddles, and I'm not sure if they're actually doing any damage to my plants. Or maybe they're beneficial, and I'm too blinded by my own hatred to see it? At one point they seemed to be committing mass suicide into one particular pitcher.

They also seem a bit more spry than aphids, which was my first guess. A couple of days ago I wiped down all the bug-surfaces with a damp cloth, but now there's more than ever. I guess they could be springtails? But they don't really seem to jump. Also, I would still hate them, I just would have to re-think my life choices.
 
Are they all the same, possibly different life stages? Don't look obviously evil. Not as bad as squirrels anyway. Do the plants look healthy?
 
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Well, they all sort-of ... move the same way? So, while my first thought was that there must be light and dark varieties of the same thing, maybe it makes more sense that they're just at different stages of the life cycle.

My plants seem fine; possibly the biggest threat to them at this stage is the chance at some point I'll snap and go on a massive plant-and-bug killing spree. :confused:

Slight tangent: What happens to your plants if you just feed the squirrels a continuous all-they-can-eat buffet of nuts and seeds?
 
spiffyzha said:
At one point they seemed to be committing mass suicide into one particular pitcher.
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Seems like you have a cult on your hands :p.

but in all seriousness it looks like globular springtails in various stages of maturity, some species are also sexually dimorphic which could explain the colour. And they are harmless/beneficial too!
 
Lloyd Gordon said:
That's like saying Vikings will stay at home with the wife and kids if they're well fed.
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Surely it can't be a coincidence that the majority of countries with large scale imperialist/conquesting tendencies are from places that don't have their own local delicious food.

(I can't even tell whether I'm being serious or not..)
 
Belgium, Japan, France etc., depending on your definition of delicious cuisine and rampaging.
 
I figured Rome was the obvious counterpoint. And, y'know, perhaps also Spain. But now I'm trying to figure out what Belgium did. [Oh. Congo. Yeah, that one's pretty bad. ]

Still, I'm sure French people everywhere are absolutely horrified at the thought of Belgium's cuisine being considered delicious.
 
Lloyd Gordon said:
That's like saying Vikings will stay at home with the wife and kids if they're well fed.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of this little documentary about the residents of a small Scottish town grappling with their new identity/history and the discovery that instead of their ancestors being the victims of Vikings... they are actually their descendants ;) https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0cbfd0z/why-the-vikings-never-left-scotland It's possible sometimes they didn't go home to the wife and kids... they brought them along with them, lol!
 
> booklice

New fear unlocked. Fortunately they haven't found their way to my stash of books yet.

The internet pictures actually look *a lot* like the bugs I have.
 
Belgians *do* make some really excellent beers! I guess they're doing their best with what they've got access to.

Hmm. Wikipedia thinks the Belgians got French fries for the first time in 1844, which I guess is still a bit before they went colonizing. But I maintain that in order to have truly delicious food, a place needs, at minimum, a source of something sugary (fruit, but maybe maple would do in a pinch) and herbs with some sort of flavor.
 
Belgium is a fairly fertile country. I haven't studied their cuisine to any extent but I'm sure it is very acceptable. Great is subjective anyway. I have to admire a country that makes delicious lambic beer with fruit (Morte Subite Peach is my favourite tipple).
 
spiffyzha said:
> booklice

New fear unlocked. Fortunately they haven't found their way to my stash of books yet.

The internet pictures actually look *a lot* like the bugs I have.
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I think your books will be safe, doesn't sound like they enjoy munching on old novels.
 
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