Two of my plants have developed what look like thousands of tiny white threads. Leaves are covered on top and bottom. Looking more closely, the easily-visible guys appear to be dead. Lurking nearby are a few live critters.
Here's a close-up of one of the live ones:
And here are a couple of live ones near the white ones:
And, finally, a section of leaf showing the quantity of dead ones:
The two plants currently infected are a Purple Passion and a German Ivy. The ivy is showing stress from something -- several leaves have turned brown and soggy, and fallen off. Are the bugs killing the leaves?
How to I stop these guys?
The fatter live ones look kind of like aphids to me, I'd give the plants a good shower/hosing off to get rid of as many as possible, let them dry, and then spray with insecticidal soap. Even if they're not aphids, it looks like a soft-bodied insect and the insecticidal soap kills pretty much any of those so the same approach ought to work. I'd probably repeat in a couple days, if it is aphids they reproduce at the speed of light so if you miss even one you'll have them all back again if you don't stay on top of it. As far as the brown soggy leaves on the ivy, that sounds like something that is more likely caused by overwatering than by the bugs.
As ecrane stated,the ivy problem is likely overwatering.They do not like to be constantly moist,let alone wet. Lynn
I think it's Aphids. Hose off and try a insecticide that handles Aphids. I think Bayer Rose and flower spray works. Always READ THE LABLE FIRST!
