Unidentifiable bugs at 64x magnification

ShirkGoldbrick

Active Member
What the hell are these things? They're almost dust sized! I found them today on a sticky trap. They were surrounding the "popsicle" stick that I have stuck in the pot of one of my mothers which holds the trap.

It looks like they crawled out of the perlite. The problem is, in order to do so, they also crawled through about an inch of diatomaceous earth

Here it is, sans stick from 4x magnification
IMG_20150223_190114132.jpg

Then here are a few shots at 64x magnification
IMG_20150223_190302263.jpg
IMG_20150223_190932490.jpg
IMG_20150223_190859678.jpg

Under a UV light, just because.
IMG_20150223_190818842.jpg

I also had one fungus gnat, must have flown in there.
IMG_20150223_191243177.jpg
 

ShirkGoldbrick

Active Member
One can be found on amazon, ebay, or many other places if you just look up pocket microscope, the particular one I used for this can be had for under $5.
 

mike4c4

Well-Known Member
What the hell are these things? They're almost dust sized! I found them today on a sticky trap. They were surrounding the "popsicle" stick that I have stuck in the pot of one of my mothers which holds the trap.

It looks like they crawled out of the perlite. The problem is, in order to do so, they also crawled through about an inch of diatomaceous earth

Here it is, sans stick from 4x magnification
View attachment 3357929

Then here are a few shots at 64x magnification
View attachment 3357930
View attachment 3357934
View attachment 3357932

Under a UV light, just because.
View attachment 3357931

I also had one fungus gnat, must have flown in there.
View attachment 3357935
I would say they are gnat larva.
 

ShirkGoldbrick

Active Member
They are not gnat larvae, they have rigid bodies and appear to have "armor" like a pill bug. I believe that jondamon is correct in that they are springtails.

This would further make sense in that there presence was unknown until now, since they're sitting in water constantly and I've been letting them dry out. I need to get my aquavalve working right. Springtails are known to try and "move" only when conditions become too dry.
 

ShirkGoldbrick

Active Member
Just for giggles I magnified them some more, here are some pics under a stereo scope:

Here is one of the bugs
Image13.jpg

Here is the "spring tail"
Image1.jpg
 

vostok

Well-Known Member
...again further proof that diatomaceous earth, is only too kill smokers ...millions of tiny razorblades zooming thru and out your lungs with every breath, you can expect to cough lots perhaps 2-3 hours post toke, sudden like, perhaps you won't notice the blood at first ...but others will, keep a note on you to say "you have been smoking weed laced(accidentally) with D-Earth(diatomaceous earth) will save the doctors flipping in a panic, death will take 3-6 days in an iron lung? will be painful too ...sorry.

but hey nice pics
...don't forget bugs hang out in dirty grows
 

ShirkGoldbrick

Active Member
Vostok, you don't use it on flowering plants. It can be rinsed off of those in veg. Albeit you are right, to a degree, that it may cause lung cancer.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8343419

These guys were breathing it in every day over a long period of time in large amounts (especially prior to 1960) and they did experience an increased rate of lung cancer.
 
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