Pitcher plant uses power of the rain to trap prey

Public release date: 13-Jun-2012
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Contact: Lindsay Morton
lmorton@plos.org
41-593-520-94197
Public Library of Science

Ants are catapulted into pitcher from unique wax crystal surface on pitcher lid

Carnivorous plants have developed a variety of unique mechanisms to trap their prey, and researchers have another to add to the list: a pitcher plant that uses the impact of rain drops to flick insects into the trap. The full report is published June 13 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

The Nepenthes gracilis pitcher plant, found in southeast Asia, has a unique, semi-slippery wax crystal surface on the underside of the pitcher lid. The researchers, led by Ulrike Bauer of the University of Cambridge, found that ants could cling to this surface under normal conditions, but a rain drop falling on the lid is enough to dislodge the insects, catapulting them into the pitcher where they are digested. This behavior can be seen in videos accompanying the published article.

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Citation: Bauer U, Di Giusto B, Skepper J, Grafe TU, Federle W (2012) With a Flick of the Lid: A Novel Trapping Mechanism in Nepenthes gracilis Pitcher Plants. PLoS ONE 7(6): e38951. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038951

Financial Disclosure: This work was funded by a Henslow Research Fellowship of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and a field work grant by the Charles Slater Fund, Cambridge, to UB. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends):

http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038951

Disclaimer: This press release refers to upcoming articles in PLoS ONE. The releases have been provided by the article authors and/or journal staff. Any opinions expressed in these are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the release and article and your use of such information.

About PLoS ONE

PLoS ONE is the first journal of primary research from all areas of science to employ a combination of peer review and post-publication rating and commenting, to maximize the impact of every report it publishes. PLoS ONE is published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the open-access publisher whose goal is to make the world's scientific and medical literature a public resource.

All works published in PLoS ONE are Open Access. Everything is immediately availableto read, download, redistribute, include in databases and otherwise usewithout cost to anyone, anywhere, subject only to the condition that the original authors and source are properly attributed. For more information about PLoS ONE relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and our embargo policy, see the everyONE blog at http://everyone.plos.org/media.

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Public release date: 13-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lindsay Morton
lmorton@plos.org
41-593-520-94197
Public Library of Science

Ants are catapulted into pitcher from unique wax crystal surface on pitcher lid

Carnivorous plants have developed a variety of unique mechanisms to trap their prey, and researchers have another to add to the list: a pitcher plant that uses the impact of rain drops to flick insects into the trap. The full report is published June 13 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

The Nepenthes gracilis pitcher plant, found in southeast Asia, has a unique, semi-slippery wax crystal surface on the underside of the pitcher lid. The researchers, led by Ulrike Bauer of the University of Cambridge, found that ants could cling to this surface under normal conditions, but a rain drop falling on the lid is enough to dislodge the insects, catapulting them into the pitcher where they are digested. This behavior can be seen in videos accompanying the published article.

###

Citation: Bauer U, Di Giusto B, Skepper J, Grafe TU, Federle W (2012) With a Flick of the Lid: A Novel Trapping Mechanism in Nepenthes gracilis Pitcher Plants. PLoS ONE 7(6): e38951. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038951

Financial Disclosure: This work was funded by a Henslow Research Fellowship of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and a field work grant by the Charles Slater Fund, Cambridge, to UB. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends):

http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038951

Disclaimer: This press release refers to upcoming articles in PLoS ONE. The releases have been provided by the article authors and/or journal staff. Any opinions expressed in these are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the release and article and your use of such information.

About PLoS ONE

PLoS ONE is the first journal of primary research from all areas of science to employ a combination of peer review and post-publication rating and commenting, to maximize the impact of every report it publishes. PLoS ONE is published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the open-access publisher whose goal is to make the world's scientific and medical literature a public resource.

All works published in PLoS ONE are Open Access. Everything is immediately availableto read, download, redistribute, include in databases and otherwise usewithout cost to anyone, anywhere, subject only to the condition that the original authors and source are properly attributed. For more information about PLoS ONE relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and our embargo policy, see the everyONE blog at http://everyone.plos.org/media.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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