Help identify this bug.

Hey, so this may be a challenge as my camera is horrible I apologize in advance.

I'm entering my 3rd run of LSO so I am not completely familiar with all the insects beneficial or otherwise. I have added rove Beatles, strataelaelaps(Sp?), and 1 or 2 others. So I don't recall seeing this insect until the latter stages of my 2nd run.

Both images are of a no longer living specimen. Closest thing I have seen in comparison would be soil centipedes. However these appear much smaller, seeming to never really exceed a 1/2". Their tail ends almost look like something you'd see on an earwig but that's clearly not what they are. They have many legs and look similar to a really short centipede/millipede. Occasionally I see them near the surface of the soil.

BTW I have no clue what that purple dried up goo is beside the insect in the 1 pic. I don't use any products that could resemble that.

Bah, looking back at my pictures I couldn't possibly expect someone to identify using them. I will attempt to get better shots, maybe a living specimen ASAP.

Looks like a centipede too me. Better pics. Think i see mice turd? Pube? Head or dog hair and maybe a boogy?

I transplanted some young plants into the 15gal. containers, I should have noted I am using black swollows KIS mix. Anyhow upon transplanting I watered in some malt barley flour with some aloe and yucca, whatever these insects are they appear to be just as happy to see the malt barley as the worms are. Ive never seen them sit so still appear to be munching away at the malt barley.

Earwig maybe.. centipede in the outdoors photos looks like

farmerfischer said:

Earwig maybe.. centipede in the outdoors photos looks like

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I'm 99% certain they are not earwigs, all pictures dead or alive are of the same insect. They are 15gal. fabric pots with the living soil liner, not outdoors but I get you. I'll take it as a compliment to my biomimicry, lol. It only looks like that because I pushed back the mulch to transplant into but they sat too deep so they gotta grow before I can move the mulch back in.

So I'm really leaning towards the soil centipede and hoping so for that matter as I believe they just scavenge organic matter and shouldn't mean any harm (I believe).

Maybe I've caused it by adding too many of a certain beneficial, could too many rove Beatles have given them a food source to over populate? If not the roves themselves their eggs/larvae?

My first run had an enormous population of rove Beatles they were flying around looking like fungus gnats even getting stuck in my buds that first run. These centipedes(?) only surfaced around the end of my 2nd cycle (at least that I noticed) and have since grown in population although not to a point I'm too worried as long as they are not a parasitic/nuisance pest.

centipede i have hundreds of them in my pots they eat anything that moves which makes them my friends

Bajamaja said:

centipede i have hundreds of them in my pots they eat anything that moves which makes them my friends

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I seen one bump into either a rove beetle or a tiny worm I don't recall which but they both kind of scurried around real quick like they were not happy to see one another.

So are they going to eat mostly bad pests or a combination of my beneficials and unwanted pests? Just curious if I should be worried if they continue to grow in population I'm not worried if they stay or diminish slightly at this point as they seem to be at a healthy population. Hundreds per pot as you said sounds about right, maybe 100-300 if I had to guesstimate.

Thanks for the reply btw, puts my mind at ease.

bam0813 said:

Looks like a centipede too me. Better pics. Think i see mice turd? Pube? Head or dog hair and maybe a boogy?

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Nope nope, maybe, and no it's a cat hair!