gnat fly larve is probably what they are. they can eat roots of plants. and breed in wet or damp and warm soil. in large quantities the larvae will feed on enough roots to start damaging the plant showing up on the upper leaves. I have used an organic solution that worked quite well for me. It was ORGANOCIDE kills 25 incests and their larvae including gnat fly. as well as treats 4 major disease's that are fungal related or bacterial related. applying it i would drench the soil with it and the plant. then wait 2 days to it again repeat tell there is no sign of them.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheItalian Garden

To me they look like aphids. I'd just wash the leaves thoroughly before serving and ignore them. Even if i ever used sprays, I definitely wouldn't bother spraying something as ephemeral as Arugula. It's grown and been eaten in such a short time span it isn't worth worrying about the odd bug imo. Blast the plants with the hose if the aphids really bother you.

I tend to agree with floral. A thorough washing before eating (immerse in water, don't just run water over it) should get the bugs off. You could also soak it in salt water for 30 minutes and that will kill any insect life. I'd wait to see it there is any damage to your plants, as Jonathan mentions, and only then seek anything more aggressive.

Well, looks like Jonathan is quite heavy handed with his insecticides. And that if that grosses you out, you have not seen anything yet.

Personally, i don't worry about washing my plants off after harvest. the larvae is probably healthy for all we know. And for sure healthier than spraying your plants with poison. We have to change our thinking, or we as a species are in trouble. We never had "perfect" food before, we weren't designed to eat perfect food. We are designed to eat a insect chewed leaf, sometimes we don't have faucets right next to us, back then there wasn't a faucet. You would worry more about the water then a little bug bite back then, washing your food could've got you sick. I compare that to people who forage wild herbs, they take those and wash them with polluted tap water..

Long story short, eat the damn leaf without worrying!

The insects on the surface of the leaf are aphids. A strong spray of water and/or squishing can usually control them if tended to on a regular basis. Aphids are very common garden pests.

The gnats flitting around the containers are probably fungus gnat adult which lay their eggs in damp soil. The tiny maggot like larvae feed on the organic matter in the pot, as well as tender plant roots.

In the future, make sure that your potting medium is very porous, coarse textured and fast draining. Avoid watering too frequently.

Your plants are perfectly safe to eat. Just give them a good rinse in the sink. It's part of having a garden.....better get used to it. :-)

vinnnya....some years aphids just seem to be on everything, and they love fast-growing greens. I personally would never spray anything on leafy greens except maybe insecticidal soap. If you submerge your harvested leaves in a large bowl of water and stir it up a bit, all the aphids will float to the top. Then you can skim them off or run the water until they flow over the edge of the bowl into the sink.