Re: CP-feeding was Re: defunct drosera, hungry N

Robert Beer (bbeer@u.washington.edu)
Wed, 31 May 1995 10:48:27 -0700 (PDT)

> In case of S. purpurea-pitchers, which often smells like rotting meat after
> some weeks in trapping business. I'm wondering whether the bad smell
> serves as an additional attractant. Any suggestions???

I notice this with many of my pitchers, but especially with S. purpurea.
Though it seems that the worse smell from S. purpurea comes from two
things: 1) the constant water supply which stagnates, and 2) the fact
that the trapped beasties often turn out to be slugs, which add a special
brand of aroma as they decompose. Still I am sure that the smell would be
attractive to curious flies. I suppose one could test the hypothesis by
growing plants in separate areas and plugging the openings of one plant
with cotton and letting the other trap to a certain point. Then remove
the cotton and note fly attraction over the course of a week and see if
the pitchers with already accumulated and decomposing flies proved more
attractive to newcomers.

bob