Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 07:27:24 -0500 From: "Susan Farrington" <sfarrington@ridgway.mobot.org> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1241$foo@default> Subject: Mosquito larvae
I'm actually quite surprised that the larvae have suceeded in living in
the pitchers... I have not seen that before. We've tested our pitchers
here at the Botanical Garden, and have never found live larvae in the
pitchers: just pieces of them! Is there any way to observe that larvae
for several days, and see if they actually survive and grow? Perhaps
they're just a little slow to succumb to the enzymes.
As to ridding the trays of larvae, you have two options: you could put
mosquito dunks in them (sold at Hardware stores)... they have BTI in
them, which kills mosquitos, but not much else. You could also allow
the trays to dry up once or twice a week (allow the trays to dry, not
the plants! As soon as the trays are completely dry, but the plants are
still moist, refill with fresh water.) This replicates a fairly natural ebb
and flow of deeper to shallower water.
I find Michael Pagoulatos' comments strange: the larvae aren't
damaging your Sarracenia, of course, but do we really want to
encourage more mosquito habitat? In addition to being very annoying,
they also carry diseases. Many of the mosquitoes these days aren't
even native mosquitoes, but Asian exotics. I am not one for wholesale
spraying against them, but I do believe that we can help by eliminating
ways for them to breed in our back yards! (To be kind to our
neighbors at least.) It's just common sense to not have stagnant water
sitting around collecting hundreds of larvae.
Susan
> I have a plant of Sar. purpurea that I grow outdoors year-round (after
> all, they grow natively in my area, so the outdoor climate is ideal
> for them). Recently, I noticed a few mosquito larvae wriggling around
> inside the pitchers, apparently oblivious to the digestion going on
> all around them. In the past, I've also had larvae growing in the
> water basins that I put under my pots to keep them constantly moist.
>
Susan Farrington
Missouri Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 299
St. Louis MO 63166-0299
susan.farrington@mobot.org
(314)577-9402
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