Bet you don't have these in your greenhouse!

[Curtis2010]

There are a few novel pests associated with growing orchids in the wild in the tropics. I have coconuts by the ton here so I use the husks for mounting orchids. I keep a little pile of husks for this purpose (great for firing up the BBQ grill also). Some of the critters here like these husks too so you have to be careful when picking up a husk.

A couple of pics attached.

Readbacked Coffee Snake. Very pretty and harmless snake, but it looks a lot like a variety of coral snake found here. I don't generally exam closely enough to confirm the difference because the coral snake, although quite non-aggressive, is potentially fatal.

Black Scorpion. They look like their sting would kill you, but it is only about like a bee sting.

Ants (no pic). Another problem I have here is little black ants (not leaf cutter ants) who like to eat orchid buds and blooms...very annoying to wait for something to bloom only to have it become breakfast for ants. Any suggestions on how to keep these little guys off the blooms? Maybe some kind of non-toxic gooey substance applied around the bloom spike?

[ryrycochinco]

Wow......I'm suddenly glad I don't live in the tropics.

[Becca]

Great pictures, it's always fun to see pictures of things you wouldn't normally get see in person yourself! Thanks for sharing! I am of no help with the ants, hopefully someone will have some idea's on how to deal with them!

[Curtis2010]

I may try something as simple as toothpaste (unless someone has a better suggestion). I don't think it will harm the spike and I expect the ants won't like it.

[Leafmite]

If the ants also like sweets, you can also use borax and sugar, dissolved in water, in little cups (don't want to put this on the plants as it is harmful to them). There are recipes for this on the Internet. The ants eat this and die. Ants won't go across a thick ring of dishwashing liquid but, again, don't put this on the plant. Diatomic Earth is something I haven't needed to try, yet, but it is said to work for insects. If the orchids are hanging, putting olive oil on the wires will usually prevent the ants from climbing up and down. A water barrier created by putting an upside down pot in a bowl of water and placing the orchid's pot/mount on top of the upside-down pot works well, too. Last year, I tried one of my herbs, an artemisia with the common name of 'wormwood' and for the first year ever, the ants stayed clear of my orchids and other houseplants. Good luck,
leafmite

[Curtis2010]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

If the ants also like sweets, you can also use borax and sugar, dissolved in water, in little cups (don't want to put this on the plants as it is harmful to them). There are recipes for this on the Internet. The ants eat this and die. Ants won't go across a thick ring of dishwashing liquid but, again, don't put this on the plant. Diatomic Earth is something I haven't needed to try, yet, but it is said to work for insects. If the orchids are hanging, putting olive oil on the wires will usually prevent the ants from climbing up and down. A water barrier created by putting an upside down pot in a bowl of water and placing the orchid's pot/mount on top of the upside-down pot works well, too. Last year, I tried one of my herbs, an artemisia with the common name of 'wormwood' and for the first year ever, the ants stayed clear of my orchids and other houseplants. Good luck,
leafmite

Thanks for the suggestions -- will give them a try.

[Merlyn]

My mentor uses the boric acid powder and sugar dissolved in paraffin, poured into a pie tin, scored while not yet hard, and broken into small (1" x 1") squares and distributed around the plants in his g/h. He replaces them once a year and you can see the chew marks where the ants have eaten them, went off and died.

.

[Curtis2010]

Thanks for the "recipe"!

[Paul]

Awesome! The snake (Ninia sebae) is lovely! I rather like the scorp too. Reminds me of my Pandinus imperator.

[Curtis2010]

Originally Posted by Paul

Awesome! The snake (Ninia sebae) is lovely! I rather like the scorp too. Reminds me of my Pandinus imperator.

(Not to draw us too far off subject here, but...)

Yes, I like the critters here too -- an endless variety of interesting insects in particular (surprisingly few of the annoying biting type for tropical swamp-land).

There is really only one snake I consider truly dangerous here (as in life-threatening dangerous), and that is the "Barba Amarilla" (English: "Yellow Beard"). Coral snakes are potentially lethal, but the odds of actually getting an effective dose of venom is very low. However, Senor Yellow Beard is a whole different story....aggressive, wide spread, and deadly toxic...definitely a good reason to tread carefully when looking for orchids!