Ant colony in n. sumatrana

[wickmo]

ok, so I was watering my lowland neps tonight and found a great big suprise for me with my N. sumatrana. An army ant colony has decided to take up residency in the growing mix! and here it is March with snow on the ground outside! I have no clue where they would have come from, but as I was hurridly shaking the ants off of my hand back into the lowland tank, I started to look at my other plants in this chamber (I have the sumatrana in there, along with a N. ventrata and N. veitchii). I found the traps of the ventrata and veitchii filled with dead ants, but none in the N. sumatrana  

  Now, here's my question: do you think this ant colony will harm the N. sumatrana? the plant appears to still be growing very well, and the other plants,needless to say, are enjoying the treat. I most likely will need to change the medium but likely won't be able to get to it till this weekend.
I just find it funny that the ventricosa and veitchii are eating well, but the ants seem to be ignoring the traps of the sumatrana?
   I saw an ant last week around the outside of the chamber and didn't really think  much about it (and promptly fed it to my D. capensis), but I guess I have found where the ant was coming from tonight!!!!    

 

 

[SydneyNeps]

Firstly, no I don't think the ants are going to harm your plants, unless they're leaf-cutter ants or the like. As for them being attracted to some species and not others, it is generally thought that different Nepenthes species have evolved to prey on specific insects, so albomarginata is reputed to attract termites for example. Just think of it as an easy, available food source for your other Neps.

Hamish

 

[The Griffin]

Hamish has the logical response, for sure. It's the paranoid part of us that seems to not want bugs in their plantas that we did not put there, lol.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[superimposedhope]

I had an ant colony in with my bical and sumatrana and they loved it. Eventually all the ants fell pray just some took longer to be fooled into a snack from the lip of a Nep.

Joe