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anyone has similar problems with ladybugs?

vraev

Carnivorous plant enthusiast
Admin
Hi guys,

well...check out what has happened. I was waiting soo long for this pitcher..and then commited a blunder:

now my bical has finally recovered and after addition of a new light...the pitcher size went from this:

The pitcher before the one in question:

1439508683_f9356ddd0d.jpg


to this: The newest pitcher

1444414125_90b5a73c3d.jpg


overall...its a pitcher double the size of anything before it.

1444402493_7da9f23c48.jpg


Took 25 days to form. And I fed it yesterday with a ladybug that are sooo common here during the start of winter as they search for broods to hibernate.

this is what happened:

1444402519_8b511d5ae6_o.jpg


25 days of waiting has gone to waste in one day. The pitcher is now rotting. :(

Another good member here, av8tor was telling me these things are really bad case of indigestion for most plants. But, I find it a bit hard to believe that if people have large greenhouses, u are eventually bound to atleast have a couple of ladybugs which get trapped in pitchers.

Is this the final result in all these cases? I thought only stink bugs did this.

In either case, as you "EXPECT" of me, I am pretty disappointed. But, well...what can I do. I guess its a lesson learnt. ???

vraev
 
I don't believe that a ladybug would have rotted it out if it caught it naturally. This is why I don't hand feed my Neps. If a bug is buzzing around the house and being annoying, I may throw him in a terrarium, but I let the plants do the rest of the work. Then again, ladybugs may not be native to Borneo and so maybe the plant cannot digest it properly. Either way, a ladybug seems like a pretty big insect for the pitcher size shown, especially being hand fed.
 
well..the ladybug was still alive when I put it in this new pitcher. Perhaps would new pitchers be still too weak to take prey like these beetles?

do ladybugs release any chemicals though when in stress? I know some people say that they should not be crushed as they stink...but I didn't know that these were stink bugs.
 
V,

What was the fluid level in the pitcher? If there wasn't a pool in the bottom of the pitcher sufficient to completely submerge the ladybug, that's problem.

my rule of thum is not to feed a pitcher anything larger than can be completely covered by the fluid. If something gets in there that can't sink all the way, I add just enough water to cover it (if I discover it's in there, anyway).
 
there was definately enough fluid. Actually there was like 1/3 of the pitcher full with fluid. Now basically the entire FLUID area is rotting at the bottom.
 
Ladybugs are toxic, and full of all kinds of nasty chemicals. I'd stay away from them. It's not as fun, but freeze dried crickets, blood worms, etc. work pretty well for me.
 
Ladybugs are toxic, and full of all kinds of nasty chemicals. I'd stay away from them.

I used to have a pet lady bug...it tore down my house and flew around destroying skyscrapers with its laser vision and killing helpless, innocent people with its radiation-emmiting body.

Stay away from Lady bugs if you know whats good for you.
 
sinking goldfish food! its MAGICAL.
 
I used to have a pet lady bug...it tore down my house and flew around destroying skyscrapers with its laser vision and killing helpless, innocent people with its radiation-emmiting body.

Stay away from Lady bugs if you know whats good for you.

lmao! :-D I know now that I should have never messed around with that bug

well....I do use betta pellets. However, I always consider that bugs are better as they are more natural and thats why I try using bugs whenever I can. :blush:
 
  • #10
POW!! ZAP!! BANG!!
 
  • #11
just goes to show that killing ladybugs is unlucky:nono:
 
  • #12
Stick with flys, crickets, cockroaches, small grasshoppers. Have been feeding those to my N. bicals for years and never had a pitcher die.
 
  • #13
If I recall, most beetles have at least mild chemical defenses. A brightly colored one like a ladybug is almost certainly poisonous to some degree. I've also read in CP cultivation literature that the heavy exoskeletons and shells of beetles often retard the digestive process.
~Joe
 
  • #14
lol! cockroaches....well...aren't they a bit tooo big?? :p

yeah seedjar...I guess I realised that after seeing the rotting. Dammit....so basically any brightly coloured bug are to be avoided. I guess I will stick to small crickets, fles and ants.
 
  • #15
I know it's fun to kill brightly colored bugs... but ants are just as fun. Watch them drown and struggle!
 
  • #16
i gave a ladybug to one of my vft`s and it didn`t take to it well at all, however it was the easiest prey i could find. Just put it on my finger, lined it up with the trap and it walked right into the trap, oblivious to its imminent death. lol mouahaha, it`s fun playing judge jury and executioner.
 
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