What nutritional benefits can insects provide to carnivorous plants?
The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata ("fanged pitcher plant") has a unique relationship with a species of ant â Camponotus schmitzi ("diving ant"). The diving ants are not digested by the pitcher plants, but instead live on the plants and consume nectar. Diving ants also dive into the digestive juices in the pitcher, swim to the bottom, and capture and consume trapped insects, leaving uneaten body parts and ant feces behind. What nutritional impact do the ants have on fanged pitcher plants? Do the pitcher plants derive any nutritional benefit from this relationship?
Part A
Carnivorous plants and legumes (e.g., peas, soybeans) both absorb key nutrients directly from other organisms. How is nutrient acquisition in pitcher plants similar to that in legumes? How is it different?
Drag the appropriate items to their respective bins.
nitrogen is supplied by captured insects
nitrogen tends to be the key nutrient absorbed from other organisms
acquire nutrients from soil
nitrogen is supplied by bacteria
acquire nutrients directly from other organisms
Similar in both speciesï¼
Pitcher plantsï¼
Legumesï¼
What nutritional benefits can insects provide to carnivorous plants?
The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata ("fanged pitcher plant") has a unique relationship with a species of ant â Camponotus schmitzi ("diving ant"). The diving ants are not digested by the pitcher plants, but instead live on the plants and consume nectar. Diving ants also dive into the digestive juices in the pitcher, swim to the bottom, and capture and consume trapped insects, leaving uneaten body parts and ant feces behind. What nutritional impact do the ants have on fanged pitcher plants? Do the pitcher plants derive any nutritional benefit from this relationship?
Part A
Carnivorous plants and legumes (e.g., peas, soybeans) both absorb key nutrients directly from other organisms. How is nutrient acquisition in pitcher plants similar to that in legumes? How is it different?
Drag the appropriate items to their respective bins.
| nitrogen is supplied by captured insects nitrogen tends to be the key nutrient absorbed from other organisms acquire nutrients from soil nitrogen is supplied by bacteria acquire nutrients directly from other organisms Similar in both speciesï¼ Pitcher plantsï¼ Legumesï¼ |
Unlock all answers
