Help identifying bug / insect

Hi all, purchased a plant from IKEA the other day. Within a few days I noticed a load of tiny black round mites/aphids/weird things on the walls, hardly noticeable as so small.

They seem to grip the walls incredibly well and don’t come off

Very tiny, almost perfectly round. Less than a mm in diameter if not smaller

Close up pic does not show any kind of head or legs – just a black ball. They leave a brown smudge when wiping off with tissue paper

At first was not sure they were actually insects as could not see any visible movement..? But observing over a few hrs, they move about from place to place

Google coming up blank – lots of similar mites / aphids but nothing that looks like my little friends

Any ideas anyone? Will try attaching a pic below

https://postimage.me/image/20241017-135347.UTAPoQ

https://postimage.me/image/20241017-135347.UTAPoQ

Its been nice knowing you

They’re young meatballs, let them do their thing and grow, later you can cut all their legs off and drop them in hot gravy!

More seriously though – them leaving a mark when you remove them doesn’t tally with your observation of them moving around – they’d leave marks everywhere if they were mobile. What you’re describing sounds like spider poop – which can be like hard, almost plastic-y dots that are very tenaciously stuck to the wall. Those would obviously not move about through. What do your observations consist of?

Dibs on your bikes through

I googled “insect dark round no legs”

https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22707/what-is-this-tiny-round-shiny-black-bug-that-bites

Whatever they are, I suggest you keep a few in a sealed ziploc bag in case anyone gets ill and they need to be analysed by a lab. Then incinerate the plant asap.

Ha cheers guys! Def not spider poo as have lots of that in conservatory… But that’s what I initially thought. I marked the position a few of the little buggers and left them for about an hour and they all moved to different places… So they are alive!

Thanks for that link – did stumble upon that but was not too conclusive

Plant is now outside and will be incinerated shortly

Weirdly -they grip like mad, can’t easily brush them off and the few I have tried to remove have taken a little tiny bit of paint off the wall! Almost like they are latching onto to it.

What sort of plant is it? And where was it grown?

Weirdly -they grip like mad, can’t easily brush them off and the few I have tried to remove have taken a little tiny bit of paint off the wall! Almost like they are latching onto to it.

Imagine what they will do when they latch onto your face.

Kormoran – good shout but no idea! I have emailed IKEA. It’s the one on the right in this link

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/succulent-potted-plant-with-pot-succulent-white-30546377/

@joshvegas! Ha ha yes this is what I am mildly concerned about. Think I managed to get rid of most of them now (must have been about 20/30 of the little buggers)

I rescind my dibs on your bikes.

This is where facehuggers come from!

Spider Mite eggs? Difficult to tell from the photo; red spider mites? https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/media/images/soredmt2.jpg

Was also going to say spider mite eggs – as above – as they look familiar.

Funnily enough, they arrived on a (gifted*) IKEA plant and spread like wildfire to neighbouring plants. Wasn’t fun!

*No, it couldn’t play the trombone or type the works of Shakespeare on a typewriter.

Timba / hightension… Interesting thanks… Weird thing is though I don’t think the eggs will have the ability to move on their own? Unless they are being moved about to drive me crazy! I marked about 5 of the buggers with a pencil dot and after leaving them for an hour or so, they all moved about 30cm away towards the window.

Got a few caught in a test tube so will see if I can find someone with a microscope! My pest controller mate is a bit flummoxed also. Maybe they are baby face huggers after all.

Maccruiskeen – you sure you still want to rescind that offer 😉 ha

To be fair a nukeproof should be still after the obvious solution is carried oug.

And if it doesn’t you probably have them on the trade description act

https://images.app.goo.gl/ZKeMc48YWXQeGw9w9

standards are slipping …

Maccruiskeen – you sure you still want to rescind that offer ? ha

And risk further contamination? No thanks – you can keep your weird Porton Down escapees to yourself!

Sure they’re not tardigrades? They’re almost indestructible! This one’s playing a sad tune just in case they’re it’s relatives…