What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Weird Pest problem

lance

Class 5 Nepenthes hoarder
Hello Everyone.
Recently I saw weird bite marks on one of my highland Nepenthes. I am horrible when it comes to IDing pests so I thought I'd ask what y'all think of this. The plant has been quarantined, but I'm still very worried. About a month ago I saw the same symptoms on my lowland Nepenthes but I was unable to find out what it was. I sprayed the lowlanders with 50/50 water alcohol to rid of whatever it was which seemed to work until they came back about a month later. Maybe a second generation of pests was able to mature? Does anyone have an idea as to what these are and how I could eliminate them? At first I thought it was mites, but I have not seen any when I tap the leaves onto a paper slit. They appear to spread like wildfire and I don't want to take any chances of them getting to the rest of my highland plants. The symptoms are as so: strange bite marks in the new leaves of the plants which look like worts/pimples from the upper sides of the leaves, deformed pitchers and pale leaves that are curled up abnormally when opening.

Here are some pictures of the infected plant:

The upper side of the bite marks which have formed like worts.

<a href="http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/?action=view&current=DSC_0432.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/DSC_0432.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Underside where the bite marks appear to have been bitten
<a href="http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/?action=view&current=DSC_0433.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/DSC_0433.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>



Paleness of the newest leaf
<a href="http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/?action=view&current=DSC_0434.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/DSC_0434.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Any ideas to what it is and how I could treat it? I have not seen any webs so I can confirm that these aren't spider mites.
 
Uhh... to me, that just looks like glands like on glandulifera.
 
They look like nectar glands to me.
 
Really? These specific bite marks weren't there last night and the lowlanders I've seen with them have gone into horrible shape. Even several growing tips died because of this. If they are nectar glands, then I've never seen anything like them ever since I started growing Nepenthes. I'd also think that these would be way too big to be glands when seen on a small bicalarata.
 
Last edited:
Sorry..but if that was on one of my orchids I'd be thinking disease/virus not pest
 
Check the newest, unfurled leaf on the plant and see if there are any bumps protruding from it, similar to those. If so, you may have thrips.

But as others have said, probably just glands.
 
Yep, I checked the newest leaf which just unfurled about a day ago and there were bumps. So, how can I get rid of these thrips? Sorry that I don't know this already, I have been pest free with my Nepenthes up until now.
 
Well, thrips aren't necessarily difficult to spot, so you will likely see them trying to hide in crevices if they're there. What I meant by the newest leaf, though, is that you should see if the unfurled growth point has bumps all over it. This is usually a tell-tale sign that they're about to have a population explosion.

That being said, your description isn't enough to go on to say that you definitely have thrips, but if you want to treat them, an insecticide with imidacloprid as the active ingredient will wipe them out. Bayer Rose & Flower is the product most people, including myself, use. Just remember that you will also be killing any beneficial predatory insects that have established themselves on or around your plants if you do decide to use it, which has been known to lead to spider mite infestations.
 
beat me to it...i had em once but could see them by pushing the dirt around. my observation: they don't care for light or neem oil :)
 
  • #10
After some closer investigations I found another plant that was also affected by what ever this is D: . . . really freaking out about this right now.

Back side of the leaf where the "bites" were bit.

<a href="http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/?action=view&current=DSC_0439.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/DSC_0439.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>



The leaf. See how its pale and furled up on the sides like a dome?

<a href="http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/?action=view&current=DSC_0440.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd495/Lance_Plater/DSC_0440.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
  • #11
I'd really like to reiterate that you don't actually know if it's a pest issue; the first step should be identification.
 
  • #13
Phew, that makes me feel a lot better! Surprisingly I've never seen nectar glands that look like this on any of my Nepenthes LOL. Makes me feel incredibly stupid :p. But what about the pale and furled leaves? All of the plants have been growing happily for months and I've never seen this, so Im pretty sure its not an adaptation thing.
 
Last edited:
  • #14
Edit: whoops someone already posted the link
 
  • #15
1) those are nectar glands.
2) most of my plants, especially as they grow larger, produce furled leaves just like what you're seeing.
3) both 1) and 2) are normal.
 
  • #16
Yeah, I certainly freaked out too much over this one. In the past nectar glands have been black for me so this is new. I should probably spend less time staring at my plants LOL.
 
Back
Top