Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 09:24:21 -0500 From: Tom Massey <massey@hal.fmhi.usf.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4009$foo@default> Subject: RE: Nepenthes and ants
Just to reiterate what has been said before, I have found that ants
introduce (or precipitate) all kinds of undesirables like aphids and scale.
If they don't actually cultivate them, they somehow make conditions more
favorable for their growth. I would not do anything to encourage ants near
my CPs.
FYI department
Tom in Fl.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 1998 9:55 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
> I believe Peter D'Amato talked about this in his book. He noted the
>main drawback is that ants will farm scale and aphids, otherwise, it may
>work quite well! Good luck.
Only certain species of ants will farm aphids so please don't kill ants
because you think they will farm aphids. I found an ant farming community
this summer on Virginia cardinalis. At first, a small species of ant was
farming the aphids but then a larger species came along and took over. It
was quite fascinating to watch these gentle giants tip toe around the
aphids. If you want to get rid of ants, put a few S. minor near their
nest.
They won't last long.
David
Atlanta
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:41 PST