tiny specks on Cereus peruvianus -- seeds or bugs?

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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someguy
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:49 pm

tiny specks on Cereus peruvianus -- seeds or bugs?

Post by someguy »

Greetings,

Over a year ago, the experts here helped me with this post: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=35142. At the time, I thought the small dark specks in the one pic were seeds.

Since then, there have been waves of these specks. There was recently a wave, with many dozens of these on the plant, the soil, the pot, and even up on the surrounding walls. The plant hasn't flowered any time recently.

I've taken a couple pictures as close as I can manage. Can someone help me determine what these are? I tried Googling for high resolution/closeup images of Cereus seeds and didn't get much. Overall research on Cereus seeds suggests they are embedded inside fruit. That, plus the obvious striping on at least some of my specks makes me think more insect/pest than seed. On the other hand, I cannot see legs although they may be there and be simply too small to see. The main part looks a lot like the mealybugs or cochineal insects shown in the pests section, but except for a little web on the spines, I don't see any of the dense white bundles like the pest section suggests should be present.

Any help is appreciated.
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blueant
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Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:05 am
Location: Uk

Re: tiny specks on Cereus peruvianus -- seeds or bugs?

Post by blueant »

I'm afraid I can't help you determine what they are but I'm quite sure I have experienced the same thing. They never seemed to hinder plant growth, but spread all over the place - walls, windows, curtains etc. As far as I could see they didn't have legs or mouths and could be brushed off easily, just little, sporadic, dark red specs. I could never find any information that seemed to cover exactly what they were though :-k

In the end I had to move the source plant outside and got rid of the remaining 'things' that were on the walls. After this they stopped appearing. So perhaps repotting in fresh medium and removing any more you see would be enough to get rid of them?

Found a few (hopefully dead?) Ones
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someguy
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:49 pm

Re: tiny specks on Cereus peruvianus -- seeds or bugs?

Post by someguy »

Those are definitely the same thing coming off my cactus. As with you, I have not been able to see legs, mouths or antenna, but then I'm not sure how they're getting up the walls including higher than the height of the cactus.

Surely someone on here knows what they are? I think I'm too far north to consider leaving mine outside on any regular basis.
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Steve Johnson
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Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: tiny specks on Cereus peruvianus -- seeds or bugs?

Post by Steve Johnson »

someguy wrote:Those are definitely the same thing coming off my cactus. As with you, I have not been able to see legs, mouths or antenna, but then I'm not sure how they're getting up the walls including higher than the height of the cactus.

Surely someone on here knows what they are? I think I'm too far north to consider leaving mine outside on any regular basis.
The red bug in your first post looks like Cochineal insect, but it's strictly an outdoor pest that attacks Opuntias growing in the ground. Could you actually be seeing them inside your house? If so, that's a new one.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
someguy
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:49 pm

Re: tiny specks on Cereus peruvianus -- seeds or bugs?

Post by someguy »

My cactus has never been outside for the years I've had it. Obviously I can't say for sure prior to my purchase of it from a nursery (who special ordered it).

I squished a number of the dots with my thumbnail and didn't get the blood red looking smear that many google images of cochineal insects depict.
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