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Pest control on sarracenia.

There's something eating my Dana's Delight, but not my purpurea or any other plant in the bog pot. It chews small holes into the side of the pitcher, which falls over after a couple days of this. I haven't seen what it is yet, but I think it's some sort of katydid. I'll stay up later to see what's doing it, but in the meantime any idea how to keep carnivorous plants eating bugs and not the other way around?
 
Where do you live? It sounds like the Exyra moth. If you are on the West Coast it could be the Orange Tortrix which I've seen having bored holes in the sides of pitchers and making silk nests in the tubes. Bacteria thuringiensis should take care of the caterpillars. Look for products with names like "Caterpillar Killer". The Bt used for mosquito control is a different strain and is not very effective on caterpillars.


http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5520.html
But there are also insects that live inside the pitchers, above the fluid line, and damage them by feasting upon their tissues. The larvae of three species of Exyra moths eat the pitcher walls, causing the top of the pitcher to topple over. Exyra rolandiana feasts only upon S. purpurea, Exyra ridingsii eats S. flava, and Exyra semicrocea infests the other species. The wasp Isodontia philadelphicus commandeers the pitchers of many Sarracenia species to house its developing grub. This wasp plugs the pitcher tube, rendering the plant unable to feed.

It's kind of late in the season for the larvae which are usually most active mid-spring but the weather has been so off this year anything is possible.
 
I'm in Connecticut, which seems to be in range from the Exyra, just that I haven't seen the larvae and they would go for my purpurea first, and that one is untouched. There's also a water beetle that lives in the tray, so do you think it could be causing problems by flying up at night?
 
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I'm in SE PA and wasps chew their way out of my Sarrs all the time.
 
I second the wasp theory and see it several time a year in my own plants. Once in a while a determined yellowjacket will chew a big hole right through a pitcher in order to escape. Exyra moths do a completely different kind of damage, they strip the inner layers of tissue from the interior of the pitchers.

Here is what damage from the Exyra moth looks like.








 
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a picture is worth a thousand words....
 
I'm in Connecticut, which seems to be in range from the Exyra, just that I haven't seen the larvae and they would go for my purpurea first, and that one is untouched. There's also a water beetle that lives in the tray, so do you think it could be causing problems by flying up at night?

Depends on the species of the moth, E. semicrocea is less specific. Look inside or cut open the collapsed pitchers for silk tenting. The larvae overwinter on ground under leaf litter or on the crowns of the plant. Around mid-April they become active and climb up the tubes and bore an entrance hole. Then they seal off the pitcher with silk and munch away on the inside. Before they pupate they often bore an exit hole for the adult moth to leave from. If you are not seeing larvae it could be they are in the pupae or adult stage.

There is another species of moth of which I do not recall the name that is specific to S. purpurea but only eats the seeds or fruits.
 
I've only ever seen Wasps chew their way out of a pitcher. That'd be my assumption as well.
 
  • #10
Okay guys, a picture is coming tomorrow. I was doing history homework for most of today, and now it's too dark for my camera to get a focus on it. I'll get one to you guys tomorrow morning.
 
  • #11
I've had plenty of wasps chew their way out of my pitchers too. Sometimes they don't quite finish the job and there's a wasp head sticking out for the rest of the season.
 
  • #12
Okay, here are the pictures. All the chewing is done where prey lands, so I think it might be wasps.
xhjWrcK.jpg

tl5kIll.jpg

And then something chewed the top of it also.
oXQx26G.jpg


I'm just wondering why it happens to one pitcher at a time, and not to the others until one falls.
Lastly, something mangled this sundew tentacle if it helps.
7nuqQZP.jpg
 
  • #13
I'm more certain wasps are the problem.
 
  • #14
Any ideas on discouraging wasps in particular? I'd rather not have to put a net over the whole pitcher.
 
  • #15
You can stuff the mouths of the pitchers with poly floss.
 
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  • #16
Okay. I'll try that and see if they stop being chewed up.
 
  • #17
Depends on the species of the moth, E. semicrocea is less specific. Look inside or cut open the collapsed pitchers for silk tenting. The larvae overwinter on ground under leaf litter or on the crowns of the plant. Around mid-April they become active and climb up the tubes and bore an entrance hole. Then they seal off the pitcher with silk and munch away on the inside. Before they pupate they often bore an exit hole for the adult moth to leave from. If you are not seeing larvae it could be they are in the pupae or adult stage.

There is another species of moth of which I do not recall the name that is specific to S. purpurea but only eats the seeds or fruits.

Jut cut one open today, and there was a little green caterpillar in it. With the caterpillar killer, do I put it in the pitchers or in the soil, and will it be safe for bog orchids as well?
 
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  • #18
I know this is a very old thread, and I didn't search yet to see if there is a newer one dealing with Exyra Pitcher Plant Moths, but I just found this adult moth poking out of my S. purpurea here in Northern NJ Nov 7th. To my knowledge, there aren't any natural bogs within 60 miles of my home. Do you think this is an Exyra fax, the moth specific to S. purpurea?

rsz_12020-11-4_moth_1.jpg
 
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  • #19
Well, I found an article in the Newsletter of the North American Sarracenia Conservancy dealing with Exyra moths. The author does suggest using Bt inside of the pitchers. Here is a link to that article: https://www.nasarracenia.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2008-spring-newsletter1.pdf

I also found a study done on the effect of smoke on the moths. The abstract states the moths flee the pitchers when smoke it detected. I have not been able to obtain a copy of this paper. I'd really like to read it. https://bioone.org/journals/the-jou...rs-in-Response-to/10.18473/lepi.70i4.a3.short

Now I wish I hadn't gotten rid of my beekeeping smokers. One would have come in handy to try the smoke application. I should think you could get an idea of the infestation present in your collection this way.
 
  • #20
Here is the other photo that didn't upload last night.

rsz_2020-11-4_moth_2.jpg
 
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