Predatory dipteran larva contributes to nutrient sequestration in a carnivorous pitcher plant.

ABSTRACT: The fluids of Nepenthes pitcher plants are habitats to many specialized animals known as inquilines, which facilitate the conversion of prey protein into pitcher-absorbable nitrogen forms such as ammonium. Xenoplatyura beaveri (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) is a predatory dipteran inquiline that inhabits the pitchers of Nepenthes ampullaria Larvae of X. beaveri construct sticky webs over the fluid surface of N. ampullaria to ensnare emerging adult dipteran inquilines. However, the interaction between X. beaveri and its host has never been examined before, and it is not known if X. beaveri can contribute to nutrient sequestration in N. ampullaria. Xenoplatyura beaveri individuals were reared in artificial pitchers in the laboratory on a die

SUBMITTER: Lam WN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5897610 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature