Who Guards the Orchids? The Invisible Allies of a Home Collection A small sachet hangs from a moth orchid leaf. It looks unremarkable, rather like a teabag that someone has attached to the plant instead of dropping it into a cup. It neither smells nor glows, and it makes no martial noises. Yet a breeding…
Tag: orchid pests
Invisible Army. Part II: Hunters on the Web
On the underside of a Phalaenopsis leaf, only a few threads can be seen, as fine as scratches on glass. Beneath them, a chase is under way that the naked eye can barely follow. One mite drains the contents of the plant’s cells; another follows in its tracks. The adult pest and the adult hunter…