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Dead Bugs

  • Thread starter kedabra
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kedabra

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I just received my first VFT!!!  I read that they don't really need to catch bugs to thrive, but as I bought this to show my students, is it possible to catch my own fly, kill it and then put it in the trap?  Will it close, will it be eaten and will it be beneficial?  Also are all bugs okay as long as they are small enough for the trap to close around them?  For example can I put an ant inside a trap?
Last question for now:  Is sunlight through a window okay or must the window be open?  
Thanks for all your help.
 
First of all

WELCOME!

We are happy you are here
smile.gif



Now to business...

Dead bugs won't work for the plant. The process of the plant eating a bug goes something like this:

1) it catches the insect
2) the insect tries to get out ( who wouldn't right? )...by the insect moving around it is triggering the 'hairs' inside the trap...with this the plant will start to release its ezymes to break the bug down.
3) after a bout a week, the plant opes the trap and the wind carries off the remains

NOW

With that being said, you need something that is alive so the plant will conintue the process....if the bug is dead, the trap will open up in a few days and not have done anything.

The advice that I give is ( f you REALLY want to feed it something )

Get a small cricket...small enough to fit inside the trap. Place the cricket in the freezer for about 15 seconds ( not too long you will kill em' ) Just long enough to slow it down.

Then take the cricket and place it in the trap. That way when the cricket wakes up it will start the process.


People have tried to feed their plants ants ( sounds weird ...plants ants )
The ant will chew its way out of the trap. Thus destroying the trap.

OR

Sometimes the ant will singal the ohter ants and you will have ants trying to rescue the POW.
I strongly advise against ants.

Mosquitos, cricket, flies, baby roach...spides are sometimes bad for the plant becuse they are poisonous...they tend to kill the trap....not the whole plant, just the trap that caught it.


Lighting:

As long as the plant gets plenty of light, you shouldn't have a problem. Many people grow these indoors...so opening a window is optional.

I hope this all helps


IF you have any more questions, PLEASE feel free to ask

ANd keep us up to date on the plant!
 
Here's how I catch bugs for my plants:

During the summer I always have flies getting in my apartment, and eventually they flock to the window in an attempt to get back outside.  So they buzz along the screen until they get tired.  Once one stops moving, I place a tupperware bowl over the bug and screen and slip the lid underneath so the fly is in the bowl and seal it.  Then I throw the whole thing in the freezer for about 45-60 seconds--long enough to stun the fly, but not long enough to kill it.

Then I can pick up the fly with tweezers and drop it into an open trap.  The trap shuts, and within two or three minutes the fly wakes up to find itself locked in a trap and begins buzzing frantically.  This triggers the trap to clamp down and start digesting.

I could easily let the plants catch bugs on thier own, but then I wouldn't be able to see it in action.  Plus, I tend to keep my plants covered with a plastic-wrap tent to keep up the humidity.
 
Wow, my methods are going to sounds really lazy now. I just grab bugs with tweezers from my window when they stop buzzing around, this causes them to freak out(obviously) then I hold them in a trap and it closes, I slip the tweazers out and the trap closes more and the bug is screwed. Personally, I never feed my plants anything with a visible mandible, ie. crickets, grasshoppers, wasps, bees, ants..., they all love to eat their way out when their threatened. And a hole in a trap kills it, it's just a matter of time. Stick to flies and stuff, then you don't have to worry.
 
Thanks for your help. :)
I will try the tips you suggest.
Kedabra
 
It also helps if you lick the bugs before you feed them to anything, that way the plant learns your taste and trusts you more. Trust is important when your dealing with wild plants such as these. Plants grow better if it trusts you and the traps are at least half again as big.
 
Flint.........

i hope your joking

biggrin.gif
 
LMAO :biggrin: Sorry, I've been in a very sarcastic mood today. Middle Schoolers asking for help all day in your lab does that to you I guess.

No, I wasn't joking at all, try it, it helps alot.
 
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