These are thrips, aren't they.

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Morja

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I suddenly have 5 phrags with signs of damage.

And if they're not thrips, what are they?

I'm ready to nuke em, the only problem being that I am first-trimester pregnant and that complicates chemical exposure and I need to be extra careful. I am not above making my husband suit up and apply something though. Recommendations?? Thank you!
 
About as fast as your typical ant, though smaller of course. They didn't strike me as horribly fast, but one can definitely lose track of them quickly due to size.

I would love it if they weren't thrips!
I panicked and went to the local hardware store and bought an insecticide spray (contains "potassium salts of fatty acids" as in 55% potassium oleate as well as some sulfur- "Safer Garden Brand 3-in-1 Garden Spray") and sprayed down my whole collection. I know insecticidal washes are less ideal because you have to apply them a lot. I'm willing to do that if I have to. I just needed something to apply until I figured out a better long-term solution, if nothing else.
Some of the recent damage noted:
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And the culprit plant that I believe likely brought in whatever this is.
I wiped it super thoroughly in rubbing alcohol when it arrived from the grower with the suspicious looking orange spots on its new growths. It didn't worsen for a while and I relaxed my measures to keep it separate... but I think has finally gotten a bit worse. Now that it is closer to my other plants, of course!
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Thrips are not that large. Thrips do the vast majority of their damage to flowers, flower buds and slender inflorescences. I have never seen images of thrip damage on leaves, especially Cattleya leaves. The thrips have tiny, tiny mouth parts. Cattleya leaves are rather rigid, tough for thrip mouthparts to puncture.
What I did find there Morja were images of fusarium wilt on the leaves of orchids. Cattleya and Phalaenopsis plants showing signs of damage that look remarkably similar to that third image that you posted just above. Thrips do not present very much detail in their shape. They strongly resemble “tiny slash marks” or little straight lines. They are so darn tiny that you have a lot of trouble determining what might be a leg or a head.
Those orange looking insects on your Phrags. that you posted are not ants either. Ants have clearly segmented bodies, skinny waists with a pronounced abdomen.

I think that maybe there are insects going after the media, not the plants. Or maybe the roots.
I use Bayer’s 3 in 1 Flower and vegetable spray with great results plus I am spreading those tightly “V” shaped leaves apart making sure there are no little beasties hiding in there. I have neglected that inspection in past years and I should not have!!!
 
I didn't think they were ants, just comparing their speed to ants because I was talking about how fast they were above. The pictures are very zoomed in- I could barely see them without zooming my phone camera in over 4x and using flash. The picture of the actual bugs is on my smallest phrag seedling.
 
Thrips are not that large.
Thrips are that large. You've obviously never seen a Western Flower Thrip! 😵‍💫 There are thousands of species. And thrips definably damage foliage.
Here's a bit copied from an Extension publication......
Thrips are elongated, tiny insects. Adults are usually 1 to 2 mm (3/64 to 5/64") long (1.2 to 1.4mm [3/64 to 1/16"] long for western flower thrips).
 
I dealt with thrips during my 9 years that I spent in Florida.
Start with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol. Or dish soap (a squirt in a quart of water). I am pretty aggressive with biochemistry but i think it is safer to stick to those... Just keep up on it. If it isn't working in a few months switch to something else

I would recommend against anything with imidocloprid for thrips...
 
Good to know I can use alcohol, and even dish soap. I did not enjoy the insecticide spray I bought and used today as it was stinky (though I tried to ventilate), and it's in the 30s F outside now during the day so I don't want to take plants outside.

Just to clear up any size confusion, here is the original thrip picture and the plant at actual size held in my hand. The picture area is circled in blue:
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Alcohol will kill them
But it may not kill the eggs. So you have to be diligent and apply alcohol often until all the eggs have hatched.
I'm happy to do it basically every time I water, which is like twice a week. I could put alcohol in a little spray bottle to make it easier and apply from all angles until it's just about dripping off leaves- that should do it, right?
I can keep that up for a month, at least.
 
As far as chemical warfare goes, you could try something like Safer's soap. It's a potassium salt of fatty acids, and messes with the cell membranes of the targeted insects. The weakness is that it requires contact. Another alternative is a synthetic pyrethroid, like bifenthrin. It is a waxy solid, doesn't get absorbed through [your] skin, is a generally provided as a water dispersion (so no bad smell, either because of carrier or the compound itself, unlike acephate), and is about 1000 to 3000 times more effective against invertebrates than vertebrates.

Either way, you'll need multiple applications, to get any younglings that hatched from eggs, but both should work. Personally, I'd use bifrenthrin. Talstar-P is one formulation, and is available on Amazon. That particular formulation only needs about 2 teaspoons per gallon dilution, so you should buy the smallest possible quantity.
 
I'm happy to do it basically every time I water, which is like twice a week. I could put alcohol in a little spray bottle to make it easier and apply from all angles until it's just about dripping off leaves- that should do it, right?
I can keep that up for a month, at least.
Use a magnifying glass to verify you still have an infestation. Alcohol in a speay bottle once a week is probably enough. But if you don't see complete control relatively soon best to use a pesticide. The alcohol should buy you time to decide if you need to use a pesticide.
If you want to learn a bit....
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7429.html?origin=serp_auto
 
As far as chemical warfare goes, you could try something like Safer's soap. It's a potassium salt of fatty acids, and messes with the cell membranes of the targeted insects. The weakness is that it requires contact. Another alternative is a synthetic pyrethroid, like bifenthrin. It is a waxy solid, doesn't get absorbed through [your] skin, is a generally provided as a water dispersion (so no bad smell, either because of carrier or the compound itself, unlike acephate), and is about 1000 to 3000 times more effective against invertebrates than vertebrates.

Either way, you'll need multiple applications, to get any younglings that hatched from eggs, but both should work. Personally, I'd use bifrenthrin. Talstar-P is one formulation, and is available on Amazon. That particular formulation only needs about 2 teaspoons per gallon dilution, so you should buy the smallest possible quantity.
Great info, thank you!!
It sounds like Safer's soap is essentially what I bought and used today, or something close! It has the same main active ingredient.
 
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