A carnivorous plant that specialized in capturing termites
The pitcher-trap tropical carnivorous plant is like a pampered family dog, one that sits quietly at the dinner table and never despairs of the hope that some morsel of food—whatever it may be—will drop right into its mouth.
In other words, the average tropical pitcher plant is not very picky: it is willing to accept any insect that crawls into its pitcher and devour it using the enzyme-rich nectar inside the pitcher.
But there is one tropical carnivorous species that has a pitcher trap, Nepenthes
albomarginata (species of Dandelion), which is much more picky - it only eats termites. Certain individuals of the species are even more picky - they eat only one biological species of termites. Scientists studying the plant in Brunei now claim to have deciphered the secret behind this particular species' pickiness. Their research was published in the journal Nature
According to the researchers, unlike other pitcher plant plants, to which animals are primarily attracted for their nectar, the most important feature of Nepenthes albomarginata appears to be a ring of tiny white hairs around the rim of the pitcher. One of the researchers noticed that there were no hairs left in the pots that were full of termites.
The scientists placed jars next to rows of termites that were engaged in searching for food. They found that when individual "workers" came into contact with hypotheses, they returned and recruited their colleagues to join them in their debauchery. Unfortunately for the termites, while on the edge they fell into the jar and were unable to get out due to the slippery interior surface. The researchers found that up to 22 termites fell into a single urn in a minute.
New York Times
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