[ColColt]

I'll bet. Apparently whatever that guy sprayed today has had little effect on the Springtails...they're still here and in the places he sprayed! I think I'm going to have to break out the shotgun.

[sinjin]

Are the springtails always there or have you only seen them recently? I would be surprised if you have a real problem, but I don't know what part of the world you are in so can't say for sure what to expect of your particular fauna. However, in general springtails have boom/bust population blooms. You'll see them crop up where some resource has allowed their numbers to grow (usually under moist conditions), they 'swarm' a bit to reproduce, and before long they are gone.

[ColColt]

I thought I saw some last year but paid little attention to them. This year I noticed them much more. They're on the front porch where I first noticed this year but out back at two of my favorite sitting places, one by the back door and the last couple steps of the deck which is about 30 feet away. You're afraid to sit anywhere outside for fear of them crawling inside your shoe or up your pants leg. They seem to be more prominent in the spring/summer. I can't recall seeing them in the cooler months.

I found and ordered some Cyonara 9.7-expensive stuff at $32/8 ounces. In a couple days if they're still noticeable I'm calling the exterminator guy back but want to have the Cyonara around anyway.

[sinjin]

Has it been unusually wet this year? Do you have lots of rotting leaf litter or rich compost material around? Fungus/mould? Have you been watering a lot?

If you can dry things up and get rid of decomposing organic matter from these areas you'll likely see a lot less of the springtails. I'd expect them to effectively disappear. And they will naturally decline as the season progresses. You may just need a good stretch of hot dry weather.

If nothing else, take solace in knowing they are otherwise harmless (and kinda cute in my opinion, although I wouldn't want masses of them all over me, either).

[ColColt]

It hasn't been unusually wet at all. In fact were under the amount we usually see by a couple inches. I don't water the grass anymore like I did years ago and there's no compost or old leaves. I made sure all leaves were gone by December. It's been rather warm here and we seldom have any Spring anymore. We go directly from Winter to Summer with maybe a couple weeks of what I'd call Spring. It's been in the mid 80's for weeks and climbing to the 90's soon.

It's good to know they're harmless but you don't want anything crawling around where you're sitting. That's my biggest complaint about them. What was kind of funny was my leaving a piece of junk mail(think I mentioned this) outside and going back to retrieve it to throw it away only to discover there were maybe a dozen on it when I got back. I sprayed with insect killer but the mist blew most off the letter since they're so small. One or two stayed on the envelope and I figured they were dead...not so. After a moment, one jumped completely off the letter.

[sinjin]

Sounds like you're going to have to wait them out! As the pesticides have not been effective you might want to stop using them for your own health. In the mean time keep a look out for rich organic wastes that they might be developing on and get rid of them. Good luck!

[ColColt]

I've looked around the house and back yard and see no place for a breeding ground. There is a flower bed about 20 feet from the back door that leads into the garage where they may possibly be congregating. I don't know enough about them to make that decision but once I get that Cyonara I'll spray in there as well.

[ColColt]

I had the exterminators come out again last week again. Four days later those varmints are still here. My Cyonara came and I sprayed with it. A few days later they're still showing up. I called the pest guys again and this time they used something called Mavrik. That was this past Wednesday. Guess what? All manner of bugs and flies were shown belly up but the Springtails.

I've come to the conclusion there's nothing that can kill them. The areas they've been seen have been sprayed with four different kinds of pesticides including my first try with Ortho Home Defense. Nothing has bothered them to any great degree. I give up.

[Aaron28]

wow...no kidding....them n cockroaches!

[ColColt]

...and ex-wives.

[Aaron28]

hahahaha!!! damn

[ColColt]

What can I say?

[Aaron28]

hahaha! yep