Research into mosquito larvae in pitchers

[Charles]

Hi TranMinh,

There are quite a few mosquito species whose larvae live in pitchers. Most of these are specialists that do not live anywhere else. These species are also thought to be harmless. We do not know exactly how they can survive in pitchers, but the only thing that is likely to have an effect on them is the acidity of the fluid. However, many animals can resist acids and enzymes while they are alive - it is only when they die and their bodies start to break up that they get digested. As far as we know, there are no strong patterns between fluid acidity and numbers or diversity of mosquitoes in pitchers, so it seems that most of these animals are well-adapted to life in pitchers.

Do you have wild Nepenthes growing close to where you live? This is something we are interested in investigating, because we'd like to find out where the mosquitoes are coming from.

Cheers,

Charles