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pitcher plant wasp

These little guys like to stuff grass and crickets in the pitchers.

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Does it overfeed the pitcher, completely stop it up from getting any food at all, or no harm done?

There's no way I would get that close to that thing. They've nearly killed me three times already...
 
My guess would be it's laying an egg in the pitcher. The grass is to help protect it from any other insects that would eat it, and the grasshoppers are food when it hatches.
 
thats really, really cool! i wish i had some of that symbiosis going on over here!
 
Becareful what you wish for... When the insect lays the egg, insect and places the grass on top it will finish the job by eating away the top of the pitcher so it folds over. They can do a good job at damaging a nice sarra collection.
 
In my experience the wasp larvae eat the grasshoppers only. It makes a brown spot on the leaf where the grass plugs are.
 
I can't believe you are that close to that foul-looking thing. So far, my Sars just eat the yellowjackets that come around - they don't look like that though. The summers are so dry here, that every flying insect for a long way came to get the water my plants were sitting in, which created a feeding frenzy for the plants, but made watering them hazardous.
 
Becareful what you wish for... When the insect lays the egg, insect and places the grass on top it will finish the job by eating away the top of the pitcher so it folds over. They can do a good job at damaging a nice sarra collection.

Those are generally moths from the genus 'Exyra'. They also have a peculiar habit of laying only one egg per pitcher. The larva will quickly eat around the perimeter of the trap causing the top to wilt. Evidently this wasp is catching prey that will serve as food for its offspring and then sealing it to prevent other predators from catching its eggs. I agree with with ElGecko's assessment and would further venture say that it's a beneficial relationship between the sarras and the wasp in that the fecal matter from their larva and physical breakdown of prey probably benefit the plant while the wasp larva get protection and lodging from the plant.
 
This photo is from wild S. rubra ssp. rubra plants in the sandhills ecoregion, NC. I would guess hymenopteran. I've seen Exyra larvae in traps before but do they cause stringy organic debris to accumulate this much?
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  • #10
This photo is from wild plants in the sandhills ecoregion, NC. I would guess hymenopteran. I've seen Exyra larvae in traps before but do they cause stringy organic debris to accumulate this much?


No. Exyra does not stuff the pitchers with straw is what I tried to say. The pictures in this thread (both of them) are NOT the work of Exyra moths. They are the work of a totally different inquiline that uses the pitchers as a hatchery rather than killing the pitchers as exyra does. I was merely stating that I disagree with Mr.FT's assessment that this is a parasitic wasp that will decimate the sarracenia.
 
  • #11
Evidently this wasp is catching prey that will serve as food for its offspring and then sealing it to prevent other predators from catching its eggs. I agree with with ElGecko's assessment and would further venture say that it's a beneficial relationship between the sarras and the wasp in that the fecal matter from their larva and physical breakdown of prey probably benefit the plant while the wasp larva get protection and lodging from the plant.

The plant would probably get a lot more nutrition of the pitchers were open the full growing season than from a few trapped and paralyzed insects.
 
  • #12
Description at one of the ICPS websites: http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5520.html
Ya'll were on que with the life history/life cycle/behavioral characteristics. It the Sarracenia wasp (Isodontia philadelphicus) or similar. It also shows the lynx spider which I've had in my backyard.
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  • #13
The plant would probably get a lot more nutrition of the pitchers were open the full growing season than from a few trapped and paralyzed insects.


No refuting that. I would remove it just on basis of aesthetics alone, but the relationship seems to be more commensal than parasitic in nature like in the case of exyra.
 
  • #14
Guys, let these wasps live, I mean they are just as threatened as wild sars right? Whats one cheap flava to a threatened wild wasp? :nono:
 
  • #16
Looks kind of like ZZ Top of Sarracenia.

That's really neat though, I would probably let the Wasp keep it up considering that:

A.) Like someone said, they are probably at least threatened.
B.) I really wouldn't feel like messing with a beast of that size and capacity.

Looks like it could do some pain!
 
  • #17
I'm going to give a public service announcement regarding this, since no one else is thinking of this possibility...

Guys, let these wasps live, I mean they are just as threatened as wild sars right? Whats one cheap flava to a threatened wild wasp? :nono:

Unless they pose a deadly threat to the gardener, thank you much. I would choose my own life over theirs were it me. I don't know if anyone else here has reactions, but if you do, don't take chances with your own life for some stupid wasp no matter if it's threatened or not.

If you get no more than an itch and bump from a sting, by all means, let stay if you want.

Bee, wasp, and insect stings cause more deaths in the United States than any other kind of envenomation (injection of venom). Wasps and bees cause 30 to 120 deaths each year in the U.S. Most deaths occur in people 35-45 years of age. Fifty percent of deaths occur within 30 minutes of the sting. [even with the immediate use of epinephrine!]
 
  • #18
have you been stung by them?
 
  • #19
I've never been stung because I don't mess with them. Leaving them alone is the best advice I can give anyone especially if you are allergic!
 
  • #20
Three times in the past 10 yrs, and the last one sent me to the ER in upper stage 3 anaphylaxis, just a hair away from stage 4. Anytime someone recommends venomous species being allowed to live where people actively work hands-on, there needs to be serious consideration given and at least a disclaimer for people who have that condition.

Also, just because you've never had a reaction doe not mean that you never will. I got stung off and on all through childhood and never had a reaction until my late teens. Ever since, it has been a present condition. So everyone who has never had a reaction should take care as well.

Leaving them alone is the best advice I can give anyone especially if you are allergic!

Obviously leave them alone, but they find me! I didn't go looking to get stung either time. And that is the way it happens. Leave them be, but if they are around, they will find you.
 
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