Unknown bugs

[Courtneybst]

Hey everyone,

Wondering if anyone can help...

I have a wabi kusa ball that's not doing too well and it was sitting in water getting saturated. I removed it last night and placed it on the soil surface of one of my houseplants so it could dry out a bit.

This morning I woke up to this!



Any ideas what they are?? Thought maybe fungus gnat larvae but the pictures online look different. It's clearly decomposing in some way and these critters are making the most of it.

 

[Tyko_N]

Any ideas what they are??

Some kind of millipede, although not sure which species. Most ones feed on decomposing leaves and similar, so should leave live plants alone, but they might degrade substrates like orchid bark or dried Sphagnum quickly.

 

[tam]

I agree, I wonder if there were eggs in the soil you used (either for houseplant or ball). You could try having a look with a torch after dark - sometimes critters like this are nocturnal and see if your houseplant has a colony.

 

[Courtneybst]

Some kind of millipede, although not sure which species. Most ones feed on decomposing leaves and similar, so should leave live plants alone, but they might degrade substrates like orchid bark or dried Sphagnum quickly.

I think you're right! This is what I found on Reddit after your post.

 

[maya hudson]

Your wabi-kusa likely attracted larvae due to the excess moisture.
Dry it out, rinse off the larvae, and ensure it doesn’t stay overly saturated to avoid future infestations.