I've been trying to figure these bugs out for a month. They are so tiny, I don't have a good enough camera to get a close up. They are dark gray and look like dust or dirt specks. We are talking less than a millimeter.
They have six legs and I can easily see the head, thorax and abdomen. They are really weak gripping. If you tilt the surface they are on, they just slip right off. I can easily spray them off with the hose but ten seconds later, they have crawled right back onto whatever surface they were on. They are so tiny that they just float on top of the water and don't drown.
My neighbor had them over at their house for the last few years and they always spray poison on them because they think all bugs are creepy. But I don't know anything about them, not even a name. My neighbor calls them spring bugs which isn't helpful for googling.
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A swarm on the sidewalk.
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A swarm on the foundation of the house.
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For size, this is the print in a plant tag. The bugs are the dark oblong specks.
Judging from the colour and the amount of individuals I would guess Collembola (springtails).
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. (E.E.Hale)
Anita Martin wrote:Judging from the colour and the amount of individuals I would guess Collembola (springtails).
They don't "spring" that I can tell but everything else seems to match when I looked it up. Now it makes sense that the neighbors call them spring bugs.
I went outside today and poked at them with my finger and it turns out they do "spring", just not terribly far. So I'm going to conclude that they are definitely some kind of springtail. Thanks!
It used to be a lot bigger, but now it is a rather tiny ad:
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