Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 19:49:14 -0800 From: Gary Kong <garko@juno.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3785$foo@default> Subject: One more Nep. question
On the larger pitchers of my N. sanguinea, I can see little speck-like
shadows of ants stuck to the pitcher walls inside the digestive zone. I
watched one ant that hadn't fallen into the fluid climbing over the
glands, unable to get a foothold on the waxy zone. It seemed to have
trouble lifting its feet and was constantly cleaning its antennae. I'm
sure it too ended up digested in its tracks. What surprises me, though,
is that it didn't fall into the fluid. Are the walls of the digestive
zone sticky? Are they trapping ants in similar fashion to a Pinguicula?
I know N. inermis traps insects on the inside surface of its pitcher with
a sticky fluid, but do other species?
Gary Kong
garko@juno.com
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