Black bugs on VFT

[lorenzo]

Hello all,

I have proudly had my VFT for 4 years or so now - I even managed to repot it successfully once. It is deadly - any fly in the room at night has been eaten by morning. It managed a wasp once too.

I am in the UK. I have had greenfly on several occasions and each time I sprayed it with "Bug Gone" or something (red spray from B&Q etc) very successfully.

This time I have some unusual black flies which I cannot identify. They are tiny, black, ladybird shaped, and when I touch then they jump off at lightning speed.

I tried putting the plant in a bucket of water, and that got rid of them for a while but they are back and seem to be multiplying.

They don't actually seem to be doing any harm yet, but I wonder if they will. Presumably they have to eat something!

Can anyone advise me further about this problem.

[Aidan]

Do they jump as you describe, or do they fly?

If they are actually jumping, then they are almost certainly springtails and are entirely harmless to your plant.

[rsivertsen]

If you have springtails, (which usually feed on nematodes, and other things than your plants, as Adian says), you might want to put a few pygmy Drosera in there, as they love to feast on these things!

[Alexis]

Springtails are common. They feed on the nectar but don't do any harm at all.

[glider14]

i have little shiny black beetles in some of my plants pots. they fly off. i guess you have springtails though
Alex

[Steve D]

lorenzo said:

. . . This time I have some unusual black flies which I cannot identify. They are tiny, black, ladybird shaped, and when I touch then they jump off at lightning speed . . .

Although they may be springtails as others have mentioned, your description made me immediately think of flea beetles, tiny shiny black black beetles that look just a little larger than Venus Flytrap seeds and jump--well, like fleas. They can become a very destructive force if not killed. I have never seen them on Venus Flytraps, but I suppose it is conceivable that they may take a liking to the plants. They tend to like certain garden vegetables. They love radishes for example.

If they look like the following:

vegipm.tamu.edu/chewing2/fleabeetle.html

--then they're flea beetles. And this is what they can do to your plants if unchecked:

www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05592.html

Best wishes at identifying and eradicating whatever pest your plants have. I use acephate (Orthene), a systemic insecticide, for all the sucking and chewing pests on Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia. It is also effective on flea beetles in the garden, so it should kill them on your Venus Flytraps as well.


Steve

[lorenzo]

Thanks for all the replies. I will try out my fairly new digital camera on them next time I see one, or at least have a closer look.

It makes sense that they are springtails because they are not all over the leaves, I just spot or or two every so often, and they have done no visible harm.

I will let you know when I manage to inspect them more closely. Thanks again.

[Deleted]

o i do hope you dont have flea beetles i used to have a large malanga plant and within a few weeks it was completely leafless