Nepenthes bicalcarata

From: Frank Wolpert (fwolpert@kf.co.za)
Date: Tue Jun 17 1997 - 10:29:13 PDT 

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 19:29:13 +0200
From: "Frank Wolpert" <fwolpert@kf.co.za>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2365$foo@default>
Subject: Nepenthes bicalcarata

Hi.I`ve been reading the book "The Private Life of Plants" by David
Attenborough.

In the chapter on feeding he discusses the pitcher plants.One paragraph
deals with the "twin-spurred pitcher"(N.bicalcarata?).Attenborough mentions
that there is a small chamber in the stem which is used as a home by
ants.He then goes on to mention that the ins regularly "dive into the
lquid,haul dead insects on to the lip and butcher them." He then says that
some of the pieces are taken away by the ants for their own use,but pieces
of the insects get dropped backed into the pitcher where in their now
smaller form are now more easily digested by the plant.

Has anyone heard of\experienced this?To me it seems impossible for an ant
to crawl out of a pitcher alive let alone haul out another insect many
times its own weight.

Any comments?

Frank Wolpert

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