little white bugs

Hi,

Ive got these little white critters in my soil. you can see a few of them on that lump of biogold - id say they were about 2mm long. any idea what they are ?

P

I can see the specks, but can't tell if they crawl, fly, slither or move some other way. Can you tell us more?
Or get a REAL closeup? Are they only on the soil? Not the tree?

Your soil looks a bit wet but all the fungus gnats I've seen are black and not white.

Hello Paul. Fertilizer cakes tend to get fly larvae on them. I don't think its anything to worry about. You have some great mosses growing in the substrate though.

I took another shot of the bugs with a better close up lense.

im the moss king. i got so much moss its become an irritation.

the black goo forms over the winter - i strip off the topsoil twice a year to get rid of the moss and the soil underneeth is pristine. that pot was handled poorly over the winter and the drainage holes on the pot were partially blocked which boosted the goo. Ive been away from home for the last 8 months so aslong as my wife waters the trees its the best i can do.

its an oak tree ( quercus robur ) and is currently growing explosively so it doesnt seem to have suffered.

i drenched all the pots with bayer provado and it seems to have slowed down the little white things.

now the maples have got aphids. damn insects.

Yes. Those look like larva of some kind of fly. They're unlikely to damage your trees.

They appear to have antenae and legs. Could they be Woodlice, Pill bugs, Roly poly's or Slaters?

I'm no expert, but they look more to me like slugs.
Iris

bonsaisr wrote:I'm no expert, but they look more to me like slugs.
Iris

Do slugs have legs in the US, Iris?

Sorry Iris these are not slugs.

I think they are springtails. Have a look at the link below.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig124