Peter
> I often seem to get a lot of dead flies around my ( indoor, ) plants
> ( coniine poisoning from Sarracenias I guess? ) and occasionally one
> fetches up on a Ping. In my experience if these aren't promptly
> removed you quickly get a large ball of mould around the fly which
> starts to kill the leaf. Anyone any experience of this, or can yours
> digest prey the size of house flies?
> An alternative would be to scrounge some fruit flies from the genetics
> dep't of your nearest university ( they always have a surplus, ) and
> apply some of these.
I only just found a hidden INBOX of 100+ mails, including yours. Sorry
but at least I'm replying now (even if you've since received adequate replies).
Yes, a large fly, irrespective of its earlier life history, can induce
moulding and eventual death of a leaf. This is not just try for Pings
but it can affect Dionaea and Drosera too. Experience will tell you
whether it is because the humidity is too high for the plant, the plant
is otherwise stressed so susceptible to mould, or just normal
behaviour. Generally, mould can kill off one leaf without directly
threatening a healthy plant but, if you see it happening, discretion is
the better part of valour - i.e. cut off the offending moulded piece of leaf!
I've rarely (if ever) seen mould kill a Ping unless the Ping previously
looked unhealthy or unless the mould began in the centre of the plant
(at the growing point).
regards
Paul