Raindrops Help Carnivorous Plants

A carnivorous pitcher plant uses raindrops to eat ants, a group of biologist has discovered.

19:47 07 October 2015

A team of biologist from the University of Bristol has discovered that a carnivorous pitcher plant uses raindrops to eat ants. Using high-speed cameras and laser vibration measurements, they found that raindrops kick off very fast vibrations in the lid of the plant’s jug-shaped leaves where the ants are trapped and consumed.

 

One of the researchers, Dr Ulrike Bauer, said: "You have a raindrop hitting the surface and that causes it to move down, fast. Then because of this spring property, it moves to a certain point and springs back.

 

"You get an oscillation, very similar to when you put a ruler on the edge of your desk and flick the end down with your finger."

 

"Having a fast movement in a plant is unusual in itself," she explained, "but having a fast movement that doesn't require the plant to invest any energy - it just requires it to build the structure - that's something quite surprising."

 

The findings place Nepenthes gracilis into its own carnivorous category. It no longer belongs with “active” carnivorous plants nor motionless “passive” insect eaters just like most other pitcher plants.