Pitcher geometry facilitates extrinsically powered 'springboard trapping' in carnivorous Nepenthes gracilis pitcher plants.

ABSTRACT: Carnivorous pitcher plants capture insects in cup-shaped leaves that function as motionless pitfall traps. Nepenthes gracilis evolved a unique 'springboard' trapping mechanism that exploits the impact energy of falling raindrops to actuate a fast pivoting motion of the canopy-like pitcher lid. We superimposed multiple computed micro-tomography images of the same pitcher to reveal distinct deformation patterns in lid-trapping N. gracilis and closely related pitfall-trapping N. rafflesiana. We found prominent differences between downward and upward lid displacement in N. gracilis only. Downward displacement was characterized by bending in two distinct deformation zones whist upward displacement was accomplished by evenly distributed straightening of the entire upp

SUBMITTER: Lenz AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9346345 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature