tarence: Pitchers and aedes

[David]

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Pitchers & aedes
« Thread Started on Sept 6, 2007, 8:59am » Hey there all

In view of the potential threat pitchers may have on our lives, I have started to speedily cut away all brown/ dead nep pitchers to avoid stagnant water collecting in them & becoming potential mosquitoes` breeding ground.

In fact, for the more vigorous & common neps ( gracilis, ampullaria, hookeriana ) , i even trim away half brown/ green pitchers to lessen the risk even more.

I know that the half brown/ green pitchers are still able to contribute to the nep as far as attracting insects & digesting them is concerned, but I want to minimise the risk even more for myself as I do quite a lot of CP gardening either in the early morning or in the cool of the evening.....which is when the aedes mozzies attack the most.

rgds, Tarence. « Last Edit: Sept 6, 2007, 10:57am by tarence »Link to Post - Back to Top 211.25.130.42 isaacgoh
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #1 on Sept 6, 2007, 10:13am » I have removed most of the plates under the plants too because wife is complaining too many mozzies.

Tried a small dose of "abate" in the plates, does not affect the neps in my observation.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #2 on Sept 6, 2007, 10:36am » Hi Isaac,
I'm afraid using small dose of abate will make the mozzies to evolve to be more immune.
The egss and the larvae for the next generations will 'tahan' the abate and survive.
Just my thought though.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #3 on Sept 6, 2007, 10:49am » I am surrounded by neps... I dont think mozzies a problem... i sleep every night with my sliding door open and the plants are within reach... I know I'll be sleepless if I have mozzies buzzing around but I dont have mozzies.... Maybe living 6 floor above the ground level helps....
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #4 on Sept 6, 2007, 10:55am » Chi'en Lee was here in Singapore for a talk and when asked about the Aedes breeding in Nepenthes, here is what he said. (I am quoting though it may not be word for word.)

"The Aedes mosquito lays its eggs in pristine water. As soon as the pitcher opens, the digestive juice gets contaminated by bacteria and dead insects. Aedes mosquitoes do not like such fluid. Instead, the things you need to look out for would be dead pitchers....particular after the rain as the dead pitchers are rinsed clean and re-filled. That is the time when Aedes lay their eggs."
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #5 on Sept 6, 2007, 11:00am » So confirm brown/dead pitcher = potential aedes breeding ground.

I guess the half dead ones ( half green) would still be ok ? « Last Edit: Sept 6, 2007, 11:30am by tarence »Link to Post - Back to Top 211.25.130.42 lisham
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #6 on Sept 6, 2007, 11:11am » apart from not being beautiful to look at (oh come on... how many of us actually think looking at something brown and wrinkled dangling around beautiful anyway? well maybe if we're mummyologist then maybe it's ok)... so go ahead... snip snip em drying pitchers....
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #7 on Sept 6, 2007, 12:21pm » I think half green ones are still ok because they are still working i.e. producing digestive juices.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #8 on Sept 6, 2007, 1:35pm » Ok thx Cindy.....btw, this thread topic includes sarracenia which retains water in the pitchers as well.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #9 on Sept 6, 2007, 1:48pm » I dont have any problems with mozzies.... But I got a bigger problem with little birdies... 4 of my 6 big n. x ventrata got bird nest in them... Now I got 1 nest full of chicks and the other 2 hatching in a week of so.... And guess what another pair of birdies is building another nest...

Just a nasty thought... Can I feed baby birdies to cp? Dont answer that... I know... It's too
cruel... I'm a bad man for thinking about it....
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #10 on Sept 6, 2007, 2:21pm » Lisham, can you please take a photo of the bird nest and baby birds in the pitcher and post here. I've got to see this. This is the first time I've heard of this.

So far I've also not found any mosquitos larva in my nep pitchers. But I always cut the pitchers even when they are only half brown.

Thanks Cindy for the enlightenment.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #11 on Sept 6, 2007, 3:32pm » I only say those things (plucking the birdie ****es and putting it into my N. bicalcarata) I am more of a Snow White kind of guy... Loves nature and surrounded by wild life... Muahahaha...

But I just hate it when I wake up in the morning and find bird poo in my drosera pots...

Here's the pix of the birds' nests...




How many nests can you spot?

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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #12 on Sept 6, 2007, 4:47pm » Nice Lisham. fyi, birds only nest when they feel safe enough. so to surmise : Lisham = bird friendly and a pal to the winged ones.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #13 on Sept 6, 2007, 5:07pm » Ok... but I scared too u know? I may not have a fear of denggue (demam denggi la however you spell it in english) but I scared bird flu... And the birdies keeps on pooping into my drosera pots...

Ok... they only nest when they feel safe enough... when the chicks leave the nests... I'll scare them away... Just sneak up to them and say BOO! Just scared my neighbors wtaching from a far will say me crazy already... Muahahaha....
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #14 on Sept 6, 2007, 5:20pm » Errr....adult birds only build nests when they want to lay eggs Lisham. after the brood leaves the nest, it will be abandoned anyways....so you can save your scare tactics for a more deserving audience...like pesky neighbours. heheh.
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Re: Pitchers & aedes
« Reply #15 on Sept 6, 2007, 11:10pm »
Quote:Errr....adult birds only build nests when they want to lay eggs Lisham. after the brood leaves the nest, it will be abandoned anyways....so you can save your scare tactics for a more deserving audience...like pesky neighbours. heheh.

But... But.... they've been here since before I trimmed my. n. x ventrata, that was 2 months ago... 1 batch flew away already... they keep coming back and they brought their friends to join them nesting every time they return.... Now I have 4 pairs... Next time I might have more pairs...