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Old 15th September 2009, 04:07 AM
Durban Durban is offline
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Join Date: Wed Jul 2009
Location: Durban, South Africa
Posts: 13
Default Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!

Quote:
Originally Posted by cpnut View Post
Hi Durban,
Very interesting nep you have there!! Usually pitchers will secrete nectars to attract insects... But now since you discover your pitcher produce salty deposits, it's sort of make sense to me...

Anyone remember seeing Wildlife documentary/when trekking in the forest on how insects (especially butterflies) congregate in large numbers in one spot "licking" mineral salts from the ground ?? I think some animals also behaved to same way... Might this N. mirabilis "found" another way to attract it's intented prey?? Hmm.... Very interesting indeed...

BTW, welcome to PP and looking forward to see your pics on your collection, thanks.
Thanks, you are totally right, many butterflies will drink out muddy pools or even other animal`s urine, i see it where i live quite often. The only way to know for sure is to camp out in front of one of the wild plants for a few days and monitor what insects it catches. I bet it`s a butterfly specialist!
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