Please help identify the insect

[rifraf262]

My plants seem to have some sort of insect on them. My roommate just spotted them today but I have yet to see them. Apparently they are "big" white bugs, I am not sure if they fly or not but I think by big he means the tip of a ballpoint pen or so. The plants leaves have shiny splotches on them like someone spilled soda on the leaves. The splotches are only a few millimeters across but speckle the leaves. In and around these splotches are miniscule black dots. Also, it appears that the splotches are somewhat indented into the leaves like a tiny layer of the leaf has been eaten or something. The leaves are dark green except where the splotches are. The splotches are just a lighter green color. I can not tell whether this is common or not but I feel like if you have had this it would jump right out at you. One more thing, I am not ruling out the possibility that these splotches are not caused by the bugs described.

Thankks

 

[Runbyhemp]

Sounds like bugs doing the damage to me. Spider mites or aphids probably.

Check this thread out

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16471&highlight=spider+mites

and this

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3316

 

[Sticky_Budz]

ya like Runbyhemp said mites look under the leaves and see if there are a bunch of eggs and bugs look around in the sick plants there are alot of post on them that will help you good luck peace

 

[The_Duhcider]

It sounds like spider mites to me. Though Thrips causes simmilar damge, but you cannot see them with the naked eye. White fly's could be there as well...If it's whiteflys, they will flly off plant when it is disturbed.

 

[mojack420]

"The plants leaves have shiny splotches on them like someone spilled soda on the leaves. The splotches are only a few millimeters across but speckle the leaves. In and around these splotches are miniscule black dots. Also, it appears that the splotches are somewhat indented into the leaves like a tiny layer of the leaf has been eaten or something."

that right there dose not point to mites or aphides for me as they dont have chewing mouth parts and are a ******* pirecing feeder .

 

[cannagro]

aphids usually put out a lil sap and they are white u usually find them near new growth and spider mites in greenhouses i find their damage on the under side of the leaves, and pray its not white fly, personally i dont think it is thrips, goodluck sorry couldnt help more

 

[lyfr]

i had a battle with thrips last grow. started with whitish dots,then silvery indent splotches. a 5 or 10 times mag. glass will let you see them.neem did the trick for me. good luck

 

[That crazy vancouver guy]

shinny splotches?... might just be resin produced by the plant to keep the fan leaves moist in arid conditions... I have shinny splotches on my plants a lot... as far as I know, u want this. resin man... the good s---. about your (possible) bug problem... I'm gunna have to leave it to others to comment on tonight... bent outta shape, I am...

 

[cannagro]

the black dots could be **** maybe

 

[Mr.Unsleep]

Sound exactly what my bugs are. I dunno what they are, but I see them still rarely. Kill on sight, etc. Not too damaging to my plants over all, and now that I'm flowering, i'm not quite sure how to get rid of them.

10 min inspection may lead to me seeing 4-5 at best to give you an idea.. Not that many.

 

[goddog]

get one of those electronic bug deterrents, u plug into the wall to keep fleas away, i havent seen a bug since i got one, except flies.... which i quickly kill.

 

[cannagro]

someone post a pic of this bug and then im sure we can solve the prob, do they fly and where they located on the plant during veg and now in flowering

 

[cannagro]

i had a battle with thrips last grow. started with whitish dots,then silvery indent splotches. a 5 or 10 times mag. glass will let you see them.neem did the trick for me. good luck

i worked in some greenhouses and i have seen a thrip investation, and i didnt need a mag to see them, if u need a mag to actually seen the bug its usually mites, usually u can only see mite damage not the actual mite, those must have been some crazy thrips:holysheep:

 

[lyfr]

my eyes aint like they used to be..the guy at the store i brought them to said he could see them. i shouldve mentioned i need a mag for just about everything!lol

 

[Mr.Unsleep]

About 1 milimeter long, clear/opaque light cream white. Eliptical, 6 legged.

Look like a very small grain of rice. They usually like to hide in between the leaf vein creases on the top side. Never seen one on the bottom, nor any eggs. I have a 60x - 100x scope and can see no eggs. They look gruesome at that much magnification. Rustling leaves usually gets them to move, where i just smash them with my finger or rub them off. They are NOT spider mites or aphids. I know the difference between the 2.

Sound like what you have Rifraf262?

Included some images that I think have narrowed down my problem. Leaf damage should look similiar to this. And the bug it's self. Keep in mind there alot of different kinds of Thrips, but this is what mine look like. Should be similiar I'm thinking from your description.

Thrips

- There are many species of pest thrips (insect picture 7) throughout North America. Unless you have a magnifying glass, you probably won't see them on your plants. Thrips are tiny, but you may notice signs of their presence, such as black, shiny speckles (droppings), silvery stippling (masses of tiny discolored scars on plant parts), or, in severe cases, deformed growth. Magnification shows thrips to be shiny, elongated blackish or yellowish insects. Adults have feathery, fringed wings, and nymphs lack wings. There are many generations per year. Thrips prefer to feed on new, rapidly growing plant tissue where it is easy to hide. Most feeding by thrips causes only slight damage, but high populations can be quite destructive. Thrips feeding can prevent rose buds from opening, and results in deform petals. Certain species spread viruses to tomatoes and impatiens. Thrips also attack asparagus, cabbage, lettuce, onions, peas, flowers, and fruit and shade trees. Control this insect pest by :

Natural enemies generally keep thrip populations below damaging levels. Conserve natural enemies by reducing or eliminating pesticide use.
Locate plants away from weedy, grassy borders where thrips live.
Use Canola Spray Oil.
Keep plants well watered, and fertilize judiciously to prevent overly lush growth.

First Sign: Leaf surfaces finely speckled with yellow spots. Later, a silvery metallic looking sheen may cover leaf surfaces. Not all Thrips create this sheen. With or without the sheen, you'll also see black specks (Thrip fecal material). Only on close inspection is the pest itself found. About 1/16" long, thrips can move quite quickly for their size. Many gardeners report thrips as a small "worm with legs". Larvae and adults look similar, but adults have wings and can fly.

Hundreds of Varieties, Many Colors: Too many to try and describe here, but they all feed the same way - by scraping and rasping at tender leaf surfaces. For control purposes, the main difference is where they pupate as youngsters.

They seem to lay eggs in the soil, but I've never seen one in the soil yet so.. Predatory nematodes are recommended to treat the soil in conjunction with a insecticide, or a predatory bug on top of the soil. Can read more at Predatory Nematodes

I may try the nematodes and an Isopropyl foliar spray and see how this helps. But, how would you go about cleaning your grow room to rid these? Bleach wash? Neem oil? Bug Bomb?

 

[cannagro]

well u know what u got hows the treatment going

 

[tom-tom]

i hope your plants get better soon

 

[allgrownup]

Let me guess.....you can identify the damaged leaf by sight cuz there are discolored spots, and then take it off or turn it over and sure enough there will be this tiny azz little bug that tries to hide by the stem. Mine look light greenish and can fly but seem to prefer not to.

If you have found 4-5 that means there is most likely WAY more than you know. They work their way up leaving dead/dieing leaves behind.

these are greenish in color and leave behind a clear carcass like they shed or somethin.

i have tried "Organicide"...Totally SUKKed. Smells horrrrrible as well. Smells like nasty salmon eggs or some kinda fishy smell. Nasty. bailed on that right away.

i just tried Ed Rosenthals organic "Zero Tolerance" and although it smells like cinnamon, it is not working.

At first I had noticed a few bugz and they were not damaging the budz. I ignored it and crushed the little EDIT when i found them. Now i am paying the price. My plants are infested. If i was you i would do something sooner than later. Like tomorrow. Don't procrastinate

i am thinking of lighting a bug bomb off with my cab open near it now. I don't know what else to do....i don't want to douce the plants in harmful pesticide and i am a week or 2 from harvest still.

I think i'm screwed on this harvest LOL :holysheep:

 

[allgrownup]

Is this what you have?

Infestations of Sansevieria by thrips causes necrosis of the young, expanding tissue, which then callous over and disfigure the resulting foliage. This typical symptom is evident on the leaf in the upper right hand corner of this slide.

Infestations of thrips often result in noticeable deposits of dark fecal material on infested leaf surfaces. Such deposits frequently aid in thrips detection. Concerning the control of thrips in the greenhouse, it is important to realize that thrips infesting flowers or weed hosts on the outside of the greenhouse may migrate into greenhouse ranges in vast numbers and cause rapid and serious damage. Frequently, by the time such damage is very evident, the thrips population is no longer present and control efforts are too late.


I'm wondering if i have a variation of these. What ever i have fly's and is light green.

 

[Mr.Unsleep]

Yep, that looks exactly like them- whereas, I only see maybe 1 on a leaf, maybe every 20th + leaf or so. They are really hard to spot, because they arent plentiful. I have the Isoproyl, and a spray bottle, but it still smells like Murphy's Oil soap. Was kind of reluctant to use that as the residue ( no matter how many times i've rinsed the bottle....) may hurt the plant- Probly kill the buggers too, but yea..

The nematoads are only $15 for a huge amount. I believe these will work for the eggs in the soil. And then I'm going to follow through with a week of Iso sprays maybe x2 a day. I know nothing of their travel though- Some thrips can fly supposedly, but I believe they can travel between my two rooms. As I've caught 1 or 2 on my fresh spouts.

I am very clean in my boxes- pick up any spills, excess dirt, and I change the black plastic tarp on the floor every 2-3 weeks. My floors are swept once a week inside, even with the tarps down, I still clean at least once a week if not more. I doubt they live very long outside of soil and green growth to live on, but I could be wrong. I couldnt find much on their life cycles. But a thourough wall to wall, ceiling to floor cleaning will probly help too.