Re: feeding CPs
Bob Beer (bbeer@u.washington.edu)
Thu, 19 May 1994 08:32:07 -0700 (PDT)
> A few comments; There are a few species of nectar loving ants whose
> behavior always intrigued me with S. purpurea. I observed these ants
> with not only an affinity but a susceptability to purps' nectar. If
> these ants were placed on the pitcher they would begin to greedily eat
> the nectar, slow traversing the flared lid without ever lifting their
> mandibles from the surface. This behavior continued, even as their
> fine motor behavior became increasingly more erratic. After a few
> minutes, with the ant sometimes trembling, they would fall into the
> pitcher mouth. Sometimes they would simply curl up and roll in, and
> almost without exception, they did not struggle once they hit the
> water in the pitcher, but simply remain curled and sank to the bottom.
>
I have watched this with many insects on Sarracenia although I didn't
notice the curling up behavior so much. I recently brought a N. maxima
into the kitchen, and within about 5 minutes a large fly that had been
buzzing around the house that morning found it. It fed for about 10
minutes, but even though it got into the "danger zone" several times, it
was about 10 minutes before it started losing it. It fell several times
and regained its wings just in time to fly out and return. About the
5th time it went all the way down.