Question
n.miranda
Do most nepenthes( 'miranda', and ventricosa ) secrete sap naturally or is it deposited from scale? I have 3 large nepenthes growing in a south window planted in sphagnum and coarse sand. They pitcher regularly. I'm including a picture of n.miranda with red spots which I think are scale. They are indented into the leaf, not raised. I've had the plants for 5+ yrs. The red spots are diminishing over the years but there is a lot of dewy sap on the pitchers and stems. I usually remove the most infected leaves. Thanks for the help!
AnswerHello Lisa,
Red spots on Nepenthes leaves are pigments, not scale. Scale are tiny insects that suck sap from the leaves of plants. The red spots on your Nepenthes look normal to me as mine have exhibited those same spots periodically in high intensity light. It is not an infection. As you surmised, those spots are points in which nectar may be produced by the plant to entice insects. These spots may be simply misplaced glands or actually intentionally grown there by the plant as a means of luring crawling ants and beetles up the vine and across leaves to the plant's pitchers. I have had Nepenthes that developed such highly active glands on their leaves that nectar dripped from them more than from some of the pitchers.
Christopher
