Help with bugs taking over my North Carolina garden!
I went out of town for two days and came back to my garden coated in bugs I cannot identify for the life of me! I first noticed them on the rims of my pots and on the cement ground under them, but they are also on the plants, in the soil, and crawling up the railing into my hanging plants. They are very active and constantly crawling, they don't seem camped out in specific spots on leaves. This is a small garden of potted plants on an apartment balcony in the city and in two days they've gotten on every plant pot. I've already struggled with some aphids and suspected spider mites this year and just want to know if these are going to hurt my plants! They are small but I'm fairly certain they have six legs and antennae. The smallest ones are orange and larger ones are gray/silver. They mostly seem to crawl, not jump or fly. The bottom leaves for a few plants are suddenly yellow/drooping. I know a number of ants live in the planter just beyond my balcony but I've left them alone as I didn't think they posed any harm to the garden, just saying in case it is related? Thank you for any bug identification you can provide! Videos attached and I can send more.