Re: soil bugs & anole lunch

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 1999.10.30 at 17:04:21(3811) Dear Susan, Yours sound like the algae gnats I was describing, if they are black, tiny, about the size of the point of a pin, slow fliers. They breed in the green algae that sometimes grows on top of the soil in pots. Saw LOTS at MOBOT in the aquatic pots, used to be a pain in the pots I had in an indoor greenhouse I once had in the TV room with seedlings kept overwinter. They fertilized the first Dracontioides I grew there, the blooms smelt like rotten meat and old dirty socks, and these little gnats were seen visiting the blooms where subequently seed developed. Cheers, Julius +More >>Are these the same as fruit flies? These look like they are coming out of the soil of my plants. Fly all over the place, like to head towards the windows, computer screen, etc. Susan<< >Les, >I think these may be algae gnats, fly real slow, breed in the algae/soil, >acn be a pest. Don`t think they will be enough for any self-respecting >Anole, not enough in them. > >Cheers, >Julius > > >I looked in a couple Alocasia pots in my greenhouse today and saw some >little soil bugs - approximately 1-2 mm in size at max. They appeared to >have some wing like structures on their back (it's tough to tell when >they're that small) but didn't buzz around much higher than a few mm. above >the soil level. I can't tell if they were flying or jumping. I didn't see >any on the plants themselves, only on the soil. > >I assume, therefore, that these are some benign soil bugs living off the >organic material in the soil and that they're not harming the plants. > >So here's the question: would these be enough to sustain an anole or two? >I had hoped to keep an anole or some other small lizard in my greenhouse but >am not eager to introduce bugs or to feed them directly. > Les > > > > > Susan Cooper scooper@cooperpower.com

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