Biologists have discovered a predatory plant that catches prey underground
Miscellaneous / / June 30, 2022
Literally: if you want to live, know how to adapt.
Professor Martin Dančák from the Czech Republic told about the study of a new species of carnivorous plant, which was discovered in one of the regions of the island of Borneo. We are talking about a very unusual version of a pitcher or nepenthes that grows in the ground.
Usually Nepenthes lure and catch insects with the help of modified leaves growing above the ground. These are vertically oriented appendages in the shape of a cylindrical jar, with an open top and a closed bottom.
Insects, such as flies, are initially attracted to the pigments or nectar, but then they slide off the edge of the sheet, which is covered with a special film, and enter the jug. There they are waiting for a viscous liquid secreted by the digestive glands of the plant, in which the insects are digested.
This feeding process is standard for most non-Penthes, but the new species from Borneo has underground shoots that allow you to catch prey that lives in the soil: flies, mites and beetles.
These plants are now classified as a unique species called Nepenthes pudica - the second word comes from the Latin word pudicus, meaning "shy".
Plants are thought to have evolved underground pitchers in response to their high altitude dry ridgetop habitat where water is scarce and aboveground insects are often scarce. Underground cavities have more stable environmental conditions, including humidity, and dry periods also appear to have more potential production, the scientists noted.
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