Thousands of Small Insects Outside

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Hi, Their are thousands of small insects running around outside. They do not fly, but seem to jump if you try to touch them. I tried spaying with Home Defense but that did not do anything. They are very small, size of a gnat, maybe smaller. I live in the foothills 30 miles east of Sacramento. Very dry and hot. Will post picture once I figure out how to.

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Comments (6)

Fori
10 years ago
Do you have any plants being damaged? If not, just ignore them. They won't be around in huge numbers for long.
user284
Original Author
10 years ago
We have not noticed any plant damage yet. Not in garden either. Any idea what they are? I have lived here 15 years and never saw anything like this. My neighbor has lived here for 40 years and never saw anything like this. I am on 5 1/2 acres of property.
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user284
Original Author
10 years ago
I believe the insects are :

Family Rhyparochromidae - Dirt-colored Seed Bugs

Exotic Seed Bugs

Mediterranean seed bug (Xanthochilus saturnius)

Rhyparochromus vulgaris (2001)

Tuxedo bug (Raglius alboacuminatus) (2005)

There are a number of native seed bugs in the
Pacific Northwest (PNW). Examples include the boxelder bug (Heteroptera:
Rhopolidae; Boisia trivittata), the western conifer seed bug (Heteroptera: Coreidae; Leptoglosus occidentalis),
some stinkbugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) and many others. In the past
few years, three new seed bugs in the family Rhyparochromidae, or the
dirt-colored seed bugs, have been found for the first time in the PNW.
The three new bugs are the Tuxedo bug (Raglius alboacuminatus), Rhyparochromus vulgaris and the Mediterranean seed bug (Xanthochilus saturnius).
They are known from Europe and northern African, Asia and Russia. There
is very little known about these bugs, possibly because they are not
major economic pests. They do cause anxiety among homeowners, and costly
eradication expenses. Henry stated that seed bugs are frequently
intercepted at port, primarily on pallets of tile and other ceramic
products. Italy represents the origin of many of these interceptions.
Fori
10 years ago
Some kind of true bug but I don't know what. Do they look like google images of false chinch bugs? I think we will seeing more things we don't normally see in our area since the weather has been so screwy.
user284
Original Author
10 years ago

Difficult to know exactly which bug. Some look similar, but not exactly the same.
PRO
User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
In proposing species IDs above, you are trying to compare the adult insect with the nymph stage in your images, you would need to find a nymph image of your species IDs for comparison.

Nymphs of the false chinch bug, as suggested by Fori, are very similar in appearance to your bug.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/266918/bgimage

http://bugguide.net/node/view/428808/bgimage

If you could capture some and place in a ventilated container with dirt and plant material, some may make it to adult stage, easier to identify, or you can just keep an eye out and capture an adult from the acreage. The adult stage should occur within a month's time.