Need Help - Under attack from maggots or other nasty.

[Beaglestorm]

Moved my peach habanero from the rocks to the sidewalk last night to shield it from the high winds we have been having. When I went to move it back , I found a huge ring of crawling insects that had descended out of the bottom of the pot. My first guess is maggots but heck they could even be termites or some other nasty.

This was one of the first plants I potted up and I remember that I forgot to make the 8 small holes it came with on the bottom bigger. Looks like my drainage is not working as well as it should. The soil at the bottom was very moist and it has been 4 days since I watered in 100 degree weather. Strange thing is that this plant is actually one of the 5 or 6 best out of 50+ that I have. I will drill out the small holes when I get home tonight but in the mean time what are these creatures and are they or will they be harmful to the plants? Thanks,

 

[SouthernYooper]

Termites.

 

[Beaglestorm]

Termites.

I know what they will do to my house but will they hurt the plants?

 

[LUCKYDOG]

Looks like a Soldier termite. There are many species of Termites, and the ones that are breaking down wood in the garden are generally not the same species that do damage in homes.

 

[SouthernYooper]

Not sure. But if there is rotting mulch or wood in your pots they could be eating that stuff. Look it up either way, just to be safe.

 

[HawaiiAl]

The last time I got a load of mulch from the county green waste dump it had termites like what you have had to spray about 6 time to kill all of them,a real bitch good luck with getting rid of them.

 

[AjarnV]

I know what they will do to my house but will they hurt the plants?

They've likely been there for some time; wouldn't they have damaged the plant by now if they were bad for it? We've got termites; but they don't seem to mess with living wood or other plants. Our house is concrete, so no problem there either. Cheers.