I seem to recall that image & question from quite a while ago. Don't recall if anyone ID'd the spot. Why is it that they bug you? What do they do other than sit there?

It is odd...it looks like a scale insect doesn't it?

A single insect in a scale type shell or maybe a nest of tiny critters. This is the first I have ever seen them. I removed all because I will be cleaning and sterilizing the pots to use next year.

In about 300 pots, maybe I found six of them or so. I still have the trays to clean. Maybe more will show up there.

i have seen them before.. no clue what they are ...

but i ruled out scale.. since it would be rather useless for a sucking insect to suck on plastic ... a darwin award winner ... lol ...

so i just presumes an egg sac or some such ...

ken

Hey, Science fiction becomes science fact. Did you read "The Andromeda Strain"? Not too far from that one.....

Actually, I was not thinking as a scale as something that is only parasitic rather than a scaly covering protecting something incubating within.

Emerogork, a scale insect, when flipped over, has visible parts under the protective shell. What was this thing like on the other side? The size isn't right for a scale insect.

Sort of looks like a seed of some sort, which would make sense considering what looks like roots in your other image. They are the approximate size and shape of the seeds from my Ulmus parvifolia, for example. And those darned things are everywhere!

When I clean my plastic cell packs and pots before storing, I have to be careful of black widow spiders! It's crazy how quickly they find and take over a stack of pots.

Any of those that I tried to remove broke so I cannot get any pic of them. I will try again if I find another.

It is definitely not a seed.