I thought you should get rid of them because it looked like it was about to close off the pitcher. That and I was unfamiliar with that behavior and thought the ants might be farming a pest like scale. And they genuinely aren't attractive.
And they genuinely aren't attractive.
you must be unfamiliar with in situ lowii pitchers
You must be unfamiliar with in situ lowii pitchers
I would think the opportunity to study the relationship between the Ants and the Nepenthes would override any perceived revulsion one might feel about the appearance of the ant "nest". Isn't that why we grow these plants; to study their behavior and relationships to their environment?? Not every insect is a "pest" and not all insect activity has a negative impact on their host.
I fully agree with the curiosity of it.
*edit*
While I havent done any reading into possible reasons for this; the ants in the pictures are Argentinian which means that they cannot know what Neps are and these cannot be Nep specific behaviors. so, I am curious as to why they would build these structures? rather, why do they know how to and that they should... and why only sometimes?
And, I dont think its unattractive there are 100 untouched pitchers for every one that gets built on.
as theplantman said, its really cool to be able to show someone a pitcher full of digesting bugs, and as the pic below shows - the mechanism that they have to keep the prey inside im still amazed
I fully agree with the curiosity of it. my history with these plants is one of curiosity, so, im quite happy to see nature unfold in my GH; albeit very basic. I would love to have a tree shrew frolicking on my imaginary vining lowii, lol
to be honest though, I havent considered the possibility of them carrying nasties into my GH. I have only ever had scale once but I believe that that was isolated and a plant problem rather than an ant problem. touch wood. but I will keep an eye out for it, thanks!
While I havent done any reading into possible reasons for this; the ants in the pictures are Argentinian which means that they cannot know what Neps are and these cannot be Nep specific behaviors. so, I am curious as to why they would build these structures? rather, why do they know how to and that they should... and why only sometimes?
And, I dont think its unattractive there are 100 untouched pitchers for every one that gets built on.
as theplantman said, its really cool to be able to show someone a pitcher full of digesting bugs, and as the pic below shows - the mechanism that they have to keep the prey inside im still amazed
what happens when they dont build