FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I was thinking about using a windowsill planter to actually grow some of my carnivorous plants outside in the spring, but we tend to have a yellow jacket problem and the location is right next to my front door.

I rather avoid being stung lol.

The answer is yes during the late summer/autumn when they are looking for sweet things, not so early in the year, when they are hunting aphids, caterpillars, fruit etc for their larvae. Essentially they see them as a food source i.e. the nectar and eat that, and if they do get caught in the trap some can cut their way out through the pitcher.

Cheers
Steve

Like Steve said, later in the year.
But, in my experience, only if they're in the vicinity. They won't come from far and wide because it's not a good ROI for the trip, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. However, if they're already close, then this could concentrate them.

My Sarracenia seem to attract many Yellow Jackets, especially the bigger leucophyllas.

I've heard they can but like Chef said, they probably wouldn't go out of their way unless its close by. I haven't had issues with that myself, but here and there I've seen cuckoo wasps lol wasps in generally freak me out. I only approve of bees and maybe bumblebees haha

Ooof thanks for all of your help guys! Considering that they have a specific spot they like to have a nest on the roof, it sounds like it might not be for me lol, I’ll continue keeping them (the plants, not the wasps) indoors for now haha

Shadowtski wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 12:12 pm My Sarracenia seem to attract many Yellow Jackets, especially the bigger leucophyllas.

A few weeks ago, my leuco's were catching bumblebees. When I heard them clawing on the inside of the pitcher, I stuck a twig in it to let the bee climb out (my leuco's had already "stuffed their faces" on moths).

i've heard that there is a sarracenia cultivar named Yellowjacket, named for its legendary ability to seek and destroy yellowjackets. i like that story so i'm not gonna check to see if it's true.

has anyone done a comparison to see what is more effective at catching yellowjackets...? those yellow funnel traps that you can buy at the store versus a deadly pitcher plant.

Funny to see this. We had yellow jackets around our house last week. I walked out later to look at the carnivores I keep and thought it would be interesting to look in one of the pitchers that my S. alata are still producing and there was a yellow jacket face down in the pitcher that must have gotten in recently. I would be thrilled if they capture them in large numbers, we had a ground nest earlier in the year that resulted in multiple stings.

A great way to get rid of a ground nest is to get the large glue traps and at night, put them next to the hole. I used an extendable pole so I didn't have to get close. After a day or so, the trap will be loaded with yellow jackets. Keep replacing them until you aren't catching many more wasps, then pop a bug bomb and stuff it face down in the hole.

Depends on the cp in question. My Sarr LW catches one here and there over the course of a summer. My Nep maxima, on the other hand, often has so many yellow jackets meet their end in its traps, that by summers end the jackets that fall in don’t drown because there are too many corpses for them to stand on.

a great way to get rid of yellow J's is pick up some borax from the laundry isle at the store and mix it with some sugar water. It will take two weeks to kill them so they will take it to the nest and feed the queen and the male bee's. works on ant's the same way.

Here is a more novel way to get rid of an underground yellow jacket or fire ant nest.

[youtube] https://youtu.be/M729-i3dECw[/youtube]

I guess that's one way to recycle aluminum, since it does come from the earth.

Circling back, while checking out the plants yesterday a yellow jacket was circling and it couldn't stay away from the entrances to the pitcher plants. Just some anecdotal evidence!