What's eating my mountain sweet pitcher plant?

Mountain Sweet Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii) is a rare Appalachian native carnivorous plant kept as a houseplant or cold greenhouse specimen. Aphids on new pitchers and scale insects on rhizomes are the primary cultivated pests. Fungus gnats can colonize wet sphagnum. The pitchers naturally lure and digest many flying insects.

Dense colonies on emerging pitcher tubes and hoods cause deformed, blackened pitchers Remove with a jet of distilled water; insecticidal soap spray on non-trap surfaces; ladybug release for outdoor cold frames

Hard or soft scale on rhizomes and pitcher bases causes yellowing and stunted growth Scrape off with a soft toothbrush; treat with isopropyl alcohol; repot in fresh sphagnum if infestation is heavy

Larvae damage fine roots in saturated sphagnum peat media Maintain clean distilled or rain water in tray; use yellow sticky traps to monitor adult population