Bug identification, dominant soil creature

In between those videos I did apply lots of diatomaceous earth you can kinda see it in the second video. These creatures while not showing up on initial application bounced back hard as fuck and they walk on that DE, almost more noticeably just because the color compared to soil.

They're really small, when I first found these things I struggled with taking a pic for almost a month before they infested. Would give soil details but anything I grow indoors they take over especially. Outdoor on my apt balcony they seem more controlled or in check from outdoor bugs, but they're still there.
 
Also, those videos are from a month ago, and taking off all my watered caked up DE and replacing with fresher compost/topdress seemed to reduce their numbers much more than the DE alone did, just based off of observation. This may sound weird but I think these things aren't affected by DE. Are they microarthropods anyone?
 
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They look to be mites, but I have no idea what kind they are, or whether they might be bad or good guys from the videos. Do you have any fungus gnats by any chance? My own soil is undergoing an explosion in the springtail population right now, and I know within a few weeks that will be followed by an increase in Stratiolaelaps (Hypoaspis) mites who eat their larvae. I tend to take the lazy attitude that if my plant isn't hurting and I see bugs, then I leave things alone (as long as they can't fly). But in my growing style those bugs play an important part of nutrient recycling, as well as protect my grow from pests like gnats or thrips.

With an infestation as bad as shown in your videos, if they were bad guys I'd assume your plant would be showing negative signs by that point.
 
buenochair said:
Wtf are these? I have them in all my outdoor and indoor soil, as well as vermicompost.
They started like the top video and grew to become like the bottom one.
Click to expand...
en.wikipedia.org

Stratiolaelaps scimitus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

If you have bugs in your compost, they are good, no question. You don't want to be killing beneficial insects, these guys will make damn sure you don't get gnats. What is DE for anyways, gnats? Do you see what I'm getting at. You might see springtails at some point, they help with fungal development, so these are also good guys.
 
i found some mites in my coco they just came randomly after I was working with compost for my veggies. I guess they're just eating dead plant matter in the soil. i don't have a huge colony of them but I see them. if anything my plants look more happy in general once they were introduced into the room.
 
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