My neighbor pulled me over to his house yesterday to check out some bug on his ficus plant. I have never had a ficus plant before but there were some leaves that were folded up (folded in half)and when you opened them up there were tons of these little black bugs. They didn't look like they had wings and it looked like the end of their body tipped up into a point. I've never seen anything like them. Does anyone know what these are or what I could tell him to do about them? Thank you!

P.C. its evident the bugs are sucking the juices out of the leaves, causing them to fold.
There are the usual houseplant pests that do such damage.
You viewed number of them clustered together.

Aphids do that. They cluster and do suck plant juices. They may indeed have wings and since they didn't leap or fly away, aphids are my choice of identification.
They also secrete onto the leaves 'honeydew', a sticky substance that can lead to mold forming which is very dangerous to plants.

First step is to rid the plant of the invaders.
If possible, take the plant to somewhere it can be given a shot of water from either a hose end or hand-held sprayer.
You may also use a soap solution...40 parts water/1 part soap, wash the plant from top to bottom, bottom to top making sure to soak all surfaces.
Wait 10 minutes, then rinse with tepid water the entire plant, top to bottom, bottom to top making sure all surfaces are free of soap.

You might also use "pyrethrum" or "rotenone" or a product containing such insecticide.

Your friend should also inspect the soil for any sign of eggs or larvae the pest has left.
Such pests produce their offspring in just days...and the resulting larvae assumes adulthood in as short a time.
They in turn, produce eggs....the cycle continues.

So continued vigil must be followed to ensure the plant is entirely free of the attacking bugs.

I suggest that you make a gift to your neighbor of many a guide or pamphlet or book that are available that describes such common pests of houseplants. The bookstores are always full of such good sources of information.
Try also the used bookstores--good books at much reduced prices. Garden books are usually the most numbered avaiable.

Thank you Hayland. In the meantime waiting for a response on the forum, I did some research of my own. I wasn't quite sure that the insects were aphids. I discovered they were Ornamental Thrips or more specifically Cuban-laurel thrips. What I found out about them described exactly the damage they were doing to my neighbor's ficus plant. I printed out some info for him and hopefully it will help. Thank you!

quote:

Cuban-laurel thrips

thank YOU, for the information on this bug... it's a new one to me.... looked it up and learned something new!... but got the biggest laff of the day, too.... did you notice the name of it's prime predator?...."The insidious flower bug ".... now there's a name for ya!!... somehow, insidious just isn't a name I'd have hung on a bug... LOL!!!...