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  • Thread starter zac
  • Start date
Hey all,

I fed my VFTs a whole bunch of ladybugs yesterday that were sitting on my deck. Today I went down to take a peek and found this. What happened:

P1010020.jpg


P1010019.jpg


It only occured on 2 out of the 14 fed traps.

Zac
 
Yeah, not the best critter to feed VFT's. Check this topic out:bad bugs
 
Uh oh. My Venus Flytrap just caught what appears to be a pillbug yesterday. It doesn't seem to be showing any signs of rot, and I sure hope it doesn't. I read on sarracenia.com that it isn't smart to have the Venus Flytrap feed during the winter months, and that doing so will likely cause the trap to rot. Is this true?
 
I haven't found pillbugs to be a problem, though. They're intended to be dormant, so feeding isn't necessary.
 
Thx Jim,

I'll steer clear of those little buggers in the future.

Zac
 
No need! VFTs can eat any insect. The digestive juices get in through weaknesses in the armour and digest the insides. You get rot with about 10% of trap captures anyway and as long as the insect isn't too big for the trap, they'll eat anything.
 
Ladybugs eat aphids. Nuff said.

Vfts do much better with soft body insects. Compared to hard body bugs such as ladybugs, pillbugs, beatles, and such. During primetime (summer) I always have one trap feeding all the time.
 
Im gona have to agree that certain prey items are poisonous to the VFT traps and that certain prey can bite or chew on the inside of the trap causing it to indeed turn black/rot/die off. Lady bugs are natorious for bitting and also they are toxic. Thats why birds dont kill off the lady bugs due to not only being toxic but there colors surves them well as a indicator dont eat me it will make you sick. Alot of bugs/capatpillers/moths and other insects are like that. But seeing how VFTs cant see and or know whats bad for them it gets um in the long run when they feed upon such prey. If a bug can bite or chew the inside of the trap when its closed its doing damage to that part of the plant so naturaly the plant will die off in that section and could cause the rest of the trap/ not the plant to die off turn black. Just my 2 cents worth, mine get tiny tiny wax moths/ freez dried bloodworms and mostly flies no probs here..
smile.gif
 
Mm hmm... I guess pillbugs either work or don't work for some people. Nothing seems to be wrong right now, so I guess pillbugs work for my plant. Ha, another bug to its lunch-able list.
 
  • #10
My plants have eaten ladybirds, (ladybugs), wasps, slugs, woodlice, beetles, flies and ants with no problems.
 
  • #11
My Dentate has digested worms whole, reopened, then digested a fly. My Dingley Giant has digested lady bugs and reopened. My typicals have digested huge crane flies with their bottom sticking out, and still managed to reopen. My Green Dragons have digested wasps. My baby VFTs have taken on flies that span their entire trap area and still reopen. Perhaps a healthy VFT could digest anything and reopen.
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] (uglypho @ Nov. 09 2005,8:12)]My Dentate has digested worms whole, reopened, then digested a fly. My Dingley Giant has digested lady bugs and reopened. My typicals have digested huge crane flies with their bottom sticking out, and still managed to reopen. My Green Dragons have digested wasps. My baby VFTs have taken on flies that span their entire trap area and still reopen. Perhaps a healthy VFT could digest anything and reopen.
Wow, I guess it could. Mine probably aren't very healthy then. It decides to rot on certain insects it catches.
 
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