Re: Sarracenia food
MARTIN HENERY (mhenery@rna.bio.mq.edu.au)
Thu, 28 Mar 1996 09:55:04 GMT+1100
> Hey all, a few weeks ago one of my Sarracenia purpurea had a squiggly thing
> in a pitcher too. A centipede! There's nothing much left of it either. It's
> the largest prey I've been able to document in my own plants.
>
> Anyone else have experience with "invertebrate megafauna?"
>
> Carlo
I had a experience with large tree crickets getting caught in
Sarracenia pitchers. These crickets are about 5cm in length, pale
brown in colour with very large, powerful mandibles for cutting up
plant material. Thus when attempting to remove them from the house
it is unwise to remove them cupped in your hands as they can inflict
a painful bite. On the occasions when my plants have caught them
(mostly S. leucophylla and S. flava) the crickets have been able to get there
own back in their dying moments by chewing a bloody great hole in the side
of the pitcher. One unfortunat individual ended up wedged head first in the
bottom of a pitcher but still managed to start to chew its way out.
I suspect the crickets are looking for somewhere to shelter and get
trapped.
It is very gratifying to note however that a common prey item in my
Sarracenias are introduced/feral European wasps. These wasps are a
recently established pest species and like anything sweet to eat. Obviously
they find the nectaries of Sarracenias irresistable.
Happy hunting
Martin Henery
Sydney, Australia.