The
insect
or other prey is lured to the cups or pitchers by the sweet nectar
inside
the cups. As it tries to drink
nectar from the lip of the cup, it slides inside the
cup into the liquid.
The
sides of the Pitcher Plant are very slippery, so the insect is trapped.
There are small hairs pointing down into the base of the cup preventing
the insect's escape by poking the insect in its face. The
base of the cup is
filled with rainwater
which wets the insect's wings, making it hard to escape.
After struggling for several minutes, a liquid
acid drowns the insect
and digests it. In about 2-3 hours
there is nothing left but the hard skin and bones. The soft parts are
used for
nutrition, and the hard parts stay at the bottom.
They
eat mostly insects, but sometimes small birds, frogs,
and rodents are known to
fall into the Pitcher Plant. Small
monkeys have even fallen into the biggest traps,
called monkey cups. The larger animals can threaten the life of the
plant
because of the decomposition of such a large amount of organic matter.
Please
keep in mind, pitcher plants prefer insects!
There are many
varieties of
pitcher plants. Like other
carnivorous plants, because they fertilize themselves by catching their
own
food, they can grow in poor conditions. They
are found in tropical areas of South America,
many different areas of North
America, and coastal areas of Australia.
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