Re: Strange larvae in S. flava pitcher

From: Miguel de Salas (mm_de@postoffice.utas.edu.au)
Date: Thu Sep 21 2000 - 16:43:32 PDT


Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 09:43:32 +1000
From: Miguel de Salas <mm_de@postoffice.utas.edu.au>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2843$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Strange larvae in S. flava pitcher

At 07:12 AM 21-09-2000 -0700, you wrote:
>I was cleaning up my S. flava yesterday by removing some of the pitchers
>that were dead at the top and had flopped over. I usually slice these
>pitchers open to see what my plant has been eating (lots of Japanese
>beetles, to my surprise). In one plant I found fresh blades of grass that
>had been used as construction material to build seven little cylinders, each
>about 2-3cm long, capped with grass and stacked on top of one another. I
>opened one and found a whitish larva inside sitting on top of a pile of
>yellow-orange goop.
>
>Has anyone seen this before? My friend Jeff suggested that it is some sort
>of bee or wasp, which sounds good to me. Whatever it is, I am terribly
>impressed with the quality of the construction, not to mention the fact that
>it happened inside a pitcher from which few insects can escape.
>

Phillip,

if the larvae are eating orange goop, they are most likely bees (the orange
goop being a mix of their own version of honey and pollen).
Some wasps make similar nests (although more often out of mud), but the
larvae feed on spiders, caterpillars and other insects.

Cheers!

Miguel de Salas
mailto:mm_de@postoffice.utas.edu.au

 School of Plant Science,
 University of Tasmania,
 GPO Box 252-55, Hobart,
 Tasmania, Australia, 7001.



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