# Another bug ID please



## Ryno202 (Mar 17, 2011)

Just noticed some of these tiny black bugs crawling around in my newly set-up vivarium. (3 weeks old...no frogs yet - just isopods and springs)

Can anyone help ID this? Harmful? Let it run its course? Thanks in advance. 

This is the underside, it was crawling on the glass.


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## tangled (May 13, 2019)

I would guess a harvestman of some sort assuming those front limbs are legs and not antennae. I can't tell in the image.


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## Ryno202 (Mar 17, 2011)

I just noticed a concentration of the bugs on the underside of my fern plant. 

They are definitely Black Fern Aphids. Anyone have any advice or comments on dealing with them?


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

Find whatever plant(s) they are on and with a wet paper towel wipe the leaves with enough force to crush them. They are soft bodied so this doesn't take much force. Repeat daily until they are gone, unless you will be adding frogs soon. If so I would suggest leaving them be. People in europe raise aphids on pea sprouts to feed their frogs some variety in addition to fruit flies so I would expect that when you add frogs, the aphid population would be predated on until it crashes: Culturing Pea Aphids


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## Ryno202 (Mar 17, 2011)

Okapi said:


> Find whatever plant(s) they are on and with a wet paper towel wipe the leaves with enough force to crush them. They are soft bodied so this doesn't take much force. Repeat daily until they are gone, unless you will be adding frogs soon. If so I would suggest leaving them be. People in europe raise aphids on pea sprouts to feed their frogs some variety in addition to fruit flies so I would expect that when you add frogs, the aphid population would be predated on until it crashes: Culturing Pea Aphids


Thank you I really appreciate that info and help


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## WallyGrows (3 mo ago)

Super second that its fern aphids, I've had them once. It took me 2 months of checking 3 times a day on all ferns and squishing them by hand, but they have never come back since then. They are the reason I am extremely careful when adding any ferns and I quarantine them much longer than other plants. But you can get rid of them for sure, and frogs will predate them and keep populations in check, if not completely crashing them. In the setup I had them in there where no animals so I also used green soap sprays and neem oil, but nothing worked as well as simply squashing them between me fingers. Be sure to wash your hands before handling ANY materials for other setups and such though. These suck but are definitely manageable, Goodluck!


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