title: Mass march of termites into the deadly trap.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Biologie, Zoologisches Institut, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Postfach 111932, 60054 Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Marlis A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Merbach
authors.forename: Dennis J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Merbach
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Maschwitz
authors.forename: Webber E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fiala
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zizka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003116:Color; D004032:Diet; D020387:Food Chain; D020049:Isoptera / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell; D013379:Substrate Specificity