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Carnivorous plants

Mass march of termites into the deadly trap

Nature volume 415, pages 36–37 (2002)Cite this article

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.

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Figure 1: Comparison of prey composition for pitchers with intact and with grazed-down rim hairs (box plot; rim condition: minus sign, grazed down; plus sign, intact).
Figure 2: A pitcher of Nepenthes albomarginata being visited by termites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachbereich Biologie, Zoologisches Institut, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Postfach 111932, Frankfurt, 60054, Germany

    Marlis A. Merbach, Dennis J. Merbach & Ulrich Maschwitz

  2. Biology Department, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam, Borneo

    Webber E. Booth

  3. Universität Würzburg, Zoologie III, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Brigitte Fiala

  4. Botanik/Paläobotanik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität und Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main, 60325, Germany

    Georg Zizka

Authors
  1. Marlis A. Merbach
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  2. Dennis J. Merbach
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  3. Ulrich Maschwitz
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  4. Webber E. Booth
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  5. Brigitte Fiala
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  6. Georg Zizka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marlis A. Merbach.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Merbach, M., Merbach, D., Maschwitz, U. et al. Mass march of termites into the deadly trap. Nature 415, 36–37 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415036a

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