Those don't look like spider mites. I believe spider mites are so small, you need a magnifying glass to see. They're odd looking whatever they are though.

I think the honeydew you're thinking of is scale, not spider mites (I could be wrong though). I've had scale and saw ants on the plants that had it.

Planto

This post was edited by plantomaniac08 on Thu, Jun 12, 14 at 20:25

Those look like some type of garden variety spider. Mama probably took up residence in your plant and had her babies. As for the ants, you are right that they're there for honeydew, which comes from a few pests, but I'd bet on aphids.

Joe

Agh, I feel bad and stupid now. Are you sure they are just garden spiders that I just killed. I should ask here before I did anything. saw so many small bugs I was a little freaked out :(

I can't enlarge the size of the pictures on my Kindle, but I'd goess that they are freshly hatched spiderlings. You should let them go in your garden immediately.

Examine your schefflera for small brown scale insects on the foliage and stems. Scale are honeydew producers, especially on many of the most common houseplants. Put infested plants outside for awhile and the ants will find them.

I'm pretty sure they're baby Argiope spiders, known as common, yellow, or golden garden spiders. They are a beautiful sight to see, especially large ones. Not to rain on your parade, but yeah, you exterminated some good guys. You live and learn my friend.

Joe

These are common garden spiders. The ones that travel all over your yard and put up webs that catch you when you are walking through your yard. I always try to get rid of as many of these as possible. I hate the feel of running into a web and knowing that a large spider is on me somewhere.

Yup. They're baby spiders.
Spider mites are tiny little red specks.

Yeah, as others have said, you annihilated a bunch of baby good guys. Right after emerging from an egg sac, the slings tend to congregate for a couple days before moving on.

Clarification on spider mite ID ... spider mites are very small -- perhaps about the size of a period (.) and really are reddish as opposed to true red. They tend to move very slowly. Should you come across some fast moving buggers that are screaming bright red in color, leave them alone. They are predatory mites and you want those around.