Ground beetles
Fast, shiny and usually black; they hide under stones, pots and mulch by day and run when exposed. At night they hunt slugs, snails, caterpillars and root maggots. Leave them be.
Ground beetles →Symptom
Tiny black bugs on plants
The short answer
Small and dark describes many different insects, and several of them are on your side. Go by what the plant looks like rather than by the insect: colour is a poor guide, since western flower thrips come in pale and dark forms and aphids can be green, red, brown or black depending on species and host. Feeding damage that is already there narrows it much further. And some of the small dark insects you will find on and around plants, such as ground beetles, rove beetles and ladybird larvae, are predators, so know them before you spray.
- Western flower thripsFrankliniella occidentalisMost likelyFast-moving slivers rather than dots, no more than about 1/16 in (up to 2 mm) long, hiding in flowers, buds and shoot tips. Dark forms predominate outdoors in winter and spring. The giveaway is on the leaf: silvery or discoloured patches flecked with black, varnish-like specks of frass.Full pest profile →
- Fungus gnatBradysia spp.Also commonDark, delicate flies up to about 1/8 in (3–4 mm) long, running over the compost or flying slowly around the pot. The adults do no damage. Their larvae live in the compost, and in large numbers they can harm the roots of seedlings and young plants; established plants are rarely hurt.Full pest profile →
- Black bean aphidAphis fabaeLess oftenBlackfly: matt black aphids up to about 2 mm, sometimes with white flecks, packed densely onto soft shoot tips, flower stems and the undersides of young leaves. Ants collecting honeydew and whitish cast skins on the plant are the other clues. Beans, nasturtiums and dahlias are favourites.Full pest profile →
- Flea beetlesPhyllotreta, Epitrix & other AlticinaeLess oftenThey jump like fleas when disturbed and leave shallow pits and small round shot-holes, mostly under 1/8 in (3 mm), in the leaves. Shiny black, bronze, bluish or metallic grey. An outdoor vegetable pest: radish, cabbage and other brassicas, and eggplant, pepper, tomato and potato.Full pest profile →
macro · leaf surface, dark specks
At a glance
- Profiled here
- 4 pests
- Also consider
- 4 other causes
- Leave alone
- 3 of them are harmless
- Not an insect
- 1 of them
When it is none of those
The rest of what gets called “tiny black bugs on plants”. Some are pests we have not profiled yet; some are insects doing you a favour; some are not insects at all, and no treatment will help.
Rove beetles
Slender, with wing cases too short to cover the abdomen, so they look half earwig (but with no pincers). Many hunt tiny prey in compost and topsoil; one, *Dalotia coriaria*, eats fungus gnat larvae and can occur naturally in greenhouse crops.
Rove beetles →Ladybird larvae
Alligator-shaped, six long legs, black with orange spots, and out in the open on a leaf, often near aphids. They look nothing like a ladybird, which is why it pays to learn them before reaching for a spray.
Ladybugs →Thrips frass
Tiny black, varnish-like specks on silvery or discoloured leaf patches, with no insect attached. It is thrips excrement: evidence of feeding rather than an insect in its own right.
Still not sure?
Four questions about the damage separate these better than an appearance can, and this page answers some of them for you.
Where · leaves
Continue to the picker