What are tiny white fuzzy bugs?

[dconklin]

Yesterday while doing yard work I encountered some tiny little bugs that looked like little fuzzy cottonballs almost. They were real small tho. I actually thought it was a fuzzy or a piece of lint at first but then started to see a couple more as I was going around the yard. They actually jump and quite high too, that is when I realized it was a bug or at least a living thing.

I didn't actually see them on my plants, just on the ground while I was taking care of some weeds. Any idea what these could be?

 

[zigs]

Wooly Aphids ?

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=724

 

[ChanellG]

Wooly aphids is what I was thinking as well. Aggravating little things, aphids; I have yellow ones plaguing my milkweed. Don't remember the food preference of wooly aphids, but you definitely want to check to be sure they aren't actually on any your plants. You have to turn the leaves over and look very closely.

 

[zigs]

Contrary to popular opinion, they are not related to Wooly Mammoths.

 

[dconklin]

Wooly Aphids ?

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=724

I am not sure if they are the aphids only because they do not seem to bother the trees or the plants. I found them on the ground and haven't seen any really on any plants. I have red rocks in my yard and get a lot of weeds so these things were actually in with the rocks and weeds.

They were the weirdest thing because I really didn't think it was a living creature so when it jumped almost a foot in the air I jumped and threw my back out or well pulled something I thought it was a piece of fuzz! I haven't seen any on the cedar tree or the neighbor's maple tree.

 

[dconklin]

Wooly aphids is what I was thinking as well. Aggravating little things, aphids; I have yellow ones plaguing my milkweed. Don't remember the food preference of wooly aphids, but you definitely want to check to be sure they aren't actually on any your plants. You have to turn the leaves over and look very closely.

I haven't seen any on the plants or the cedar tree. They were all over in the yard (which is mostly red rocks and not grass) and I was finding them when I was pulling the weeds out of the yard. They were kind of in between some of the rocks.

 

[ChanellG]

Contrary to popular opinion, they are not related to Wooly Mammoths.

Pfffffffffffffffft!

I haven't seen any on the plants or the cedar tree. They were all over in the yard (which is mostly red rocks and not grass) and I was finding them when I was pulling the weeds out of the yard. They were kind of in between some of the rocks.

They tend to like soft stemmed plants like roses, though different types seem to be drawn to different plants. I've only seen the wooly ones. The yellow ones cluster together near the tops of my milkweed and they also hide under the leaves so I have to check carefully. There are little black ones that get on the okra and hibiscus. Have been hoping to see ladybugs about, but they've been scarce.

 

[dconklin]

Pfffffffffffffffft!




They tend to like soft stemmed plants like roses, though different types seem to be drawn to different plants. I've only seen the wooly ones. The yellow ones cluster together near the tops of my milkweed and they also hide under the leaves so I have to check carefully. There are little black ones that get on the okra and hibiscus. Have been hoping to see ladybugs about, but they've been scarce.

I only have weeds where I was finding them as I haven't found any on the garden plants, only in the yard. Maybe that is because I don't have any other plants they like but somehow find their way to my yard? I have marigolds but that's it for flowers. The rest of my plants are vegetables and strawberries. We do have wild flowers growing in the yard tho.

First picture I found said it could be a planthopper. But as I do some more searching after you and Zigs mentioned wooly aphids, that is more what it looked like. Tho it was very small so it was hard to be certain.

 

[ChanellG]

First picture I found said it could be a planthopper. But as I do some more searching after you and Zigs mentioned wooly aphids, that is more what it looked like. Tho it was very small so it was hard to be certain.

They are very small. With all those wildflowers you hopefully have ladybugs and other natural aphid predators about to help keep the population under control. Supposedly the ones threatening my milkweed will go on their own as mysteriously as they came. Getting them off the plants is harder now because I have a whole new crop of monarch caterpillars.

 

[Rosyrain]

They probably are aphids of some sort; I like the mammoth joke! I found some yellowish green ones on my bush yesterday when I was trimming it up; I ended up having to scrub up to make sure I did not bring any into the house.

 

[Chuck]

I am not sure if they are the aphids only because they do not seem to bother the trees or the plants. I found them on the ground and haven't seen any really on any plants. I have red rocks in my yard and get a lot of weeds so these things were actually in with the rocks and weeds.

They were the weirdest thing because I really didn't think it was a living creature so when it jumped almost a foot in the air I jumped and threw my back out or well pulled something I thought it was a piece of fuzz! I haven't seen any on the cedar tree or the neighbor's maple tree.

They might also be a type of scale insect called a crawler scale. They are a destructive insect and they come in many colors. They hatch from eggs in the soil and climb up the plants to do their damage. They do not fly and some of them do look like fuzz

 

[Pat]

My thought is aphids. The crawler scale bug is new to me, they both do damage to plants.

Hope your back is better, thos sudden movements can make you hurt yourself.

 

[Amers]

I'm going crazy and close to throwing all my potted flowers away on my patio. I not only have the black aphids on my hibiscus, lime green small bugs (which I think from pics are also aphids) having a party especially in my Zinnias, then tonight I found out the small white bugs, which are new to the whole fiasco, are also aphids. Can this be possible? Black, lime green and white aphids all at the same time, I am becoming out numbered. The guy at the nursery told me to spray them well especially under the leaves and soil around, then bring them for a few days. If I begin to see them again once they're back outside, repeat same procedure. I really don't like the thought of bringing bugs I've missed into my home. Is this necessary? Their all in pots out on a roof top patio. Could I move them off the patio and maybe spread them outside in yard?

 

[taki]

I read that these things like tender shoots so I would watch the undersides of my young plants if I was you. They are not a real problem to mature plants but a young plant they can suck dry and cause yellow leaves and stuff like that.

 

[taki]

I'm going crazy and close to throwing all my potted flowers away on my patio. I not only have the black aphids on my hibiscus, lime green small bugs (which I think from pics are also aphids) having a party especially in my Zinnias, then tonight I found out the small white bugs, which are new to the whole fiasco, are also aphids. Can this be possible? Black, lime green and white aphids all at the same time, I am becoming out numbered. The guy at the nursery told me to spray them well especially under the leaves and soil around, then bring them for a few days. If I begin to see them again once they're back outside, repeat same procedure. I really don't like the thought of bringing bugs I've missed into my home. Is this necessary? Their all in pots out on a roof top patio. Could I move them off the patio and maybe spread them outside in yard?

They are quite harmless and do not bite humans. In fact I don't think they can bite humans. The end result is you might find some mobile fuzz hopping around your living room. At the very least it should amuse the cat for a while