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AOBPreview originally published online on March 22, 2009
Annals of Botany 2009 103(8):1219-1226; doi:10.1093/aob/mcp065
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Effect of pitcher age on trapping efficiency and natural prey capture in carnivorous Nepenthes rafflesiana plants

Ulrike Bauer1,*, Christoph Willmes2 and Walter Federle1

1 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
2 Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Ecology, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany

* For correspondence. E-mail ub213{at}cam.ac.uk

Received: 14 December 2008    Returned for revision: 15 January 2009    Accepted: 10 February 2009    Published electronically: 22 March 2009

Background and Aims: Nepenthes pitchers are sophisticated traps that employ a variety of mechanisms to attract, capture and retain prey. The underlying morphological structures and physiological processes are subject to change over the lifetime of a pitcher. Here an investigation was carried out on how pitcher properties and capture efficiency change over the first 2 weeks after pitcher opening.

Methods: Prey capture, trapping efficiency, extrafloral nectar secretion, pitcher odour, as well as pH and viscoelasticity of the digestive fluid in N. rafflesiana pitchers were monitored in the natural habitat from pitcher opening up to an age of 2 weeks.

Key Results: Pitchers not only increased their attractiveness over this period by becoming more fragrant and secreting more nectar, but also gained mechanical trapping efficiency via an enhanced wettability of the upper pitcher rim (peristome). Consistently, natural prey capture was initially low and increased 3–6 d after opening. It was, however, highly variable within and among pitchers. At the same time, the pH and viscoelasticity of the digestive fluid decreased, suggesting that the latter is not essential for effective prey capture.

Conclusions: Prey capture and attraction by Nepenthes are dynamic processes strongly influenced by the changing properties of the pitcher. The results confirm insect aquaplaning on the peristome as the main capture mechanism in N. rafflesiana.

Key words: Carnivorous plants, pitcher development, prey attraction, prey capture, insect aquaplaning, extrafloral nectar, Nepenthes rafflesiana


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