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Post by leilani on Oct 12, 2009 10:18:10 GMT -10
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Ants
Oct 8, 2009 15:06:15 GMT -10
Post by leilani on Oct 8, 2009 15:06:15 GMT -10
These are what is know as "Little Fire Ants". They are an invasive species here in Hawaii. So small are these ants that you don't notice them until its too late. contents of one small pitcher ... Of course, following regulations, all ant species must be eliminated from certified areas so the natural cycle is interrupted but, if left to nature, I figure my nursery would probably remove 10's of millions of these ants per month from the surrounding environment.
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Post by leilani on Oct 5, 2009 23:03:33 GMT -10
Welcome sonpsychic!
Nice to have you here and thank you for the very nice field report.
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Post by leilani on Oct 5, 2009 23:00:03 GMT -10
Welcome Nico!
Nice to have you here and don't worry about your English.
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Post by leilani on Oct 5, 2009 22:54:30 GMT -10
I really like that one!
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Post by leilani on Sept 15, 2009 21:37:27 GMT -10
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Post by leilani on Sept 15, 2009 18:05:55 GMT -10
walterg ..... Your about to be promoted to "Global Showoffer"! Looks like the "Buy In" in some high-stakes Nepenthes card game.
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Post by leilani on Sept 15, 2009 17:57:59 GMT -10
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Post by leilani on Sept 15, 2009 17:53:44 GMT -10
Here is that N. faizaliana and N. boschiana (13.25") about 10 days later. Here is the N. lowii, Trus Madi from the previous post .... N. burbidgeae x edwardsiana ..... N. tentaculata "The Joker" ...
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Post by leilani on Sept 6, 2009 23:36:02 GMT -10
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Post by leilani on Sept 6, 2009 22:46:58 GMT -10
Hi Lam,
That would be the "classic" N. x Rokko.
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Post by leilani on Sept 6, 2009 21:41:38 GMT -10
Welcome nygreg!
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Post by leilani on Sept 3, 2009 21:50:29 GMT -10
Dave,
The fact that N. albomarginata produce and termites eat the tricomes does not necessitate the conclusion that they act as “lures”. This is the suggestion (one of the premises) of those advocating this hypothesis. In lieu of the identification of some termite-specific method of attraction this remains simply an assumption, a suggestion, the “once upon a time” of this story. It has clearly been established that termites treat these tricomes as a food source when found but this fact alone does little toward offering evidence that they are specifically produced to take advantage of a gullible band of termites. As far as I know, to date, no attractant has been identifies or isolated. (If, I was to assume that these tricomes act as “lures” then, I would think that a chemical process would be the most likely method of sensory signaling.)
No I’m not! I’m questioning this very assumption. To say “N. albomarginata makes food for termites” assumes the conclusion I'm questioning.
Look, its a good story. I don’t think that it is quite ready to be codified into knowledge, as it seems to have become in Stewart's book. (In Clarke's Nepenthes of Borneo this hypothesis was still treated with a dash of healthy skepticism and a call for more study.)
Personally, I think the hypothesis fails for flawed assumptions and that the evidence produced so far fails to the point. One fundamental assumption is made explicit by yourself and seems to have been accepted without question from the start: that the tricomes found in the banded area (and elsewhere) serve a function parallel to nectar production. However, I think this assumption breaks down quickly when scrutinized. I think the whole “bait and trap analogy” may be getting overplayed in the analysis of the data. This assumption of parallel functions lies at the heart of the whole hypothesis and seems, to me, to have biased the process of study itself.
It seems perfectly plausible to me that the whole scenario of the “bonanza catch” may well have little to do with N. albomarginata at all .... other than it's good fortune at being there when it rains candy. And, that the “bonanza catch” is more likely an epi-phenomenon of termite behavior rather that the result of any scheme by N. albomarginata to win the environmental lottery. After all, other species, if we accept Moran’s testimony, have also won the termite lottery without obvious bands or tricomes.
There are better ways to right a good story than to just copy a best seller.
The argument for N. lowii collecting bird and mammal scat would seem less problematic as it it is merely an extension of the existing trapping mechanisms and processes and does not require we assume any new modalities of attraction.
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Hello
Sept 3, 2009 20:59:40 GMT -10
Post by leilani on Sept 3, 2009 20:59:40 GMT -10
Welcome Sean!
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Post by leilani on Sept 2, 2009 0:08:05 GMT -10
Hi Dave,
I was referring to the psychological (maybe physiological) methodology humans seem to employ in order to retain and relate discrete bits of data. We create narratives all the time in order to fill in the blanks.
Suppose I show you a series of still pictures of me all, apparently, taken the same day. In the first picture (8 am) I am standing in front of my house, in the second (10 am) I am standing in front of the Hilo Airport, in the third I am at the Honolulu Airport (11 am) and in the last at the San Francisco Airport (7 pm).
There you have it ..... four discrete bits of data. Nothing in any of the pictures tells you anything about the other except that I was present in all of them. You would then build the causal narrative ..... you fill in the blanks in such a way as to make sense of the data.
"Sam left his house in the morning and drove to Hilo where he caught a plane to Honolulu and then flew on to San Francisco."
Your relate the data in a way that makes sense to you and is consistent with your other knowledge. You might know that I live roughly 30 miles from Hilo, you might know that Hilo is roughly an hours flight to Honolulu, that it is about 5 hours of flight time to San Francisco and that Hawaii time is three house behind the west coast at this time of year. The narrative you create may reflect the reality of how I got to San Francisco or it may not. I might have taken a cab, I might have transfered planes, I might have used a mode of travel totally unknown to you, the pictures might have been taken on different days or I might have made a side trip to Maui that you could never know about by simply examining the four pictures I showed you.
Creating narratives is not bad or wrong ..... it is essential. What is important is to realize that we are filling in the blanks and that, even when the overall story seems to make sense we may still be missing something critical ( .. like my trip to Maui).
Regarding N. lowii, the story seems to make sense but I will admit that I have not had the opportunity to study this in depth. For the moment I would like to stay with N. albomarginata and termites.
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