Mass march of termites into the deadly trap.
Carnivorous pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes are not usually very selective about their prey, catching anything that is careless enough to walk on their slippery peristome, but Nepenthes albomarginata is an exception. We show here that this plant uses a fringe of edible white hairs to lure and then trap its prey, which consists exclusively of termites in enormous numbers. This singular feature accounts for the specialization of N. albomarginata for one prey taxon, unique so far among carnivorous plants.
Merbach
Marlis A
MA
Fachbereich Biologie, Zoologisches Institut, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Postfach 111932, 60054 Frankfurt, Germany.
Merbach
Dennis J
DJ
Maschwitz
Ulrich
U
Booth
Webber E
WE
Fiala
Brigitte
B
Zizka
Georg
G
D000818:Animals; D003116:Color; D004032:Diet; D020387:Food Chain; D020049:Isoptera / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell; D013379:Substrate Specificity