A few days ago, I noticed that some of my Nepenthes had started producing an exceptionally large amount of nectar. Some of them had visible, glistening droplets covering their pitchers. It was so striking that I snapped a couple pictures:
Well I wasn’t the only one to notice this. The next morning I arrived at a very different scene. Ants had invaded the greenhouse, and were feasting on the abundant nectar:
I started looking around and noticed clusters of ants all over my plants:
This Nepenthes sanguinea seemed especially popular:
However, a meal this good is not without risks:
I also made a quick video of the ants swarming the above Nepenthes maxima, and being devoured by the hundreds:
Thanks for the photos and video! I just brought home my first ‘pitcher plant’ from a local nursery and am looking forward to how it grows…
Those ants are going to town! I’ve got quite a lot of ant action on my Sarracenia outside. I think they’re feeding on the trapped bugs in the pitchers in addition to the nectar though.