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tcleigh

HELP! tiny bugs all over my pepper plants (pics)

tcleigh
12 years ago

Woke up today and found tiny black bugs all over some of my pepper plants which I have under a grow light. I brought these plants in from outside about two months ago. Here are some pics:

{{gwi:53269}}

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Can anyone recommend a safe way to get rid of them?? Thanks!

Comments (10)

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    12 years ago

    Those are fungus gnats. I get those too on indoor plants but it usually means the soil has been kept too damp. Normally you will find them in the soil and if the ones in your picture are the same thing, I would say that you have a very bad infestation of them. I am sure there are some out there that have a more specific treatment but what I would do immediately is spray some good "insecticide" around the base of the plants all over the soil. Don't overdue it but you will probably have to reapply each day for a few days. In the mean time, get the soil to dry out. Your plants will probably be happier too. Don't water them until you see them telling you they need water.
    Check the link at the bottom of my post. It will tell you all you neeed to know.

    Bruce

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fungus Gnats as Houseplant and Indoor Pests

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    12 years ago

    Jesse aji could be right but I am still guessing fungus gnats.

    Here is the image from the Colorada state U web site:

    Here is the photo of your bugs:

    {{gwi:1238268}}

    Bruce

  • jesse_aji
    12 years ago

    They may be a species of Chalcid wasp which parasitizes fly pupae. There are tons of different species, so don't go by the first photo you see in a "Chalcid" google search, keep scrolling down and you may see something that matches.

    By the way, notice the antennae, they are more wasp like than fly like. I can't think of any Dipterans (flies) with antennae that aren't little "nubs".

    They shouldn't be any harm to any of your plants.

  • jesse_aji
    12 years ago

    Woops! Fungus gnats do have longer antennae than most other flies relative to their head size, but these insects still appear to have wasp like features(antennae are quite long). Notice the size(and shape) of their heads compared to their body compared to that of photos of fungus gnats. These insects have larger/wider heads. I would rule out fungus gnat with 100% confidence, but I will not id them as chalcids or wasps with that kind of confidence, without a better picture.

  • smokemaster_2007
    12 years ago

    I don't think they are fungus Gnats.

    They don't have the same body in my opinion.
    Legs don't look long enough either.
    In the pics on the link below check out the last pic 2nd row down and the 3rd pic 1st row.
    Notice the big difference in what you have.

    http://www.insectidentification.org/

    Here is a link that might be useful: Gnats

  • smokemaster_2007
    12 years ago

    Good site for bug I.D.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bugs

  • don555
    12 years ago

    It is rare when I don't have at least a few fungus gnats around my indoor plants, but those bugs sure don't look like any fungus gnat I've ever seen.

  • don555
    12 years ago

    This is a fungus gnat from my indoor peppers (stuck to a piece of yellow sticky-paper):
    {{gwi:1238270}}

  • tcleigh
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    thanks to everyone for the helpful ideas!

    im not exactly sure what kind of insects they were, but the good news is that they proved harmless to the plants. The day after i had initially found them swarming under my grow light, i found them dead. must have been a hatch of some sort. glad it was harmless and not labor-intensive to treat!