Tropical pitcher plants are the kings of carnivorous plants in the world. They are the only carnivorous plants that can grow to sizes large enough to swallow large insects large rodents. Tropical pitcher plants are native to the ancient tropics and are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Sumatra. There are over 150 different species of tropical pitcher plants, each displaying Mother Nature’s dark side of revenge against small mammals and insects. The largest tropical pitcher plant to date is “Nepenthes Rajah”. Nepenthes means a plant of a genus that includes the Old World pitcher plants.
Although these plants are beautiful and create some of the most amazing looking flowers that are completely harmless, the fact that the flower was created due to all the nutrients it captured from the prey it devoured is terrifying. Growing one of these carnivorous king plants in your own backyard means setting up a death trap for any small creatures nearby. In Lakeland Florida, the Nepenthes Miranda species is known to capture a particular prey far too often than any insect or critter. Although this prey can potentially escape most of the time, it has been seen on YouTube, books and photographs that this prey can drown and become a supper of plants if it falls into a big trap that happens all too often in Lakeland Florida.
Anole lizards appear to play an important role in any Nepenthes diet in Lakeland Florida. These lizards are everywhere and have become the main dish of an unconscious eating plan. It’s really sad to see that these anole lizards became part of a plant protein source; They don’t seem to have a break at all. Not just cats feast on them, birds, large insects, fish and other reptiles like frogs and toads will devour these lizards and now we are adding plants as their enemies. With over a billion of these lizards in the state of Florida, there are plenty for everyone.
So how do they capture them? It is very simple and somewhat different from how insects are caught. Let’s first explain the difference. Insects fall victim to Nepenthes pitcher plants for 2 main reasons; by the color of the plant and by the nectar of the plant. Nepenthes pitcher plants create colorful leaves and traps that capture the attention of hungry insects and passing insects. The leaves resemble luscious fruits, and the nectar the plant releases around the lip of the traps closes the deal and tricks the insects into thinking it’s a free, no-cost meal. The insect will land on the lip and begin to suck the nectar from the plant, but little do they know that the nectar is drugged. Almost like a human being drinking beer or vodka, he drinks too much and runs out. The edge of the traps is also slippery, designed so that the prey can fall inward into the trap when it has been stunned and can no longer hold onto the slippery surface. Once at the bottom, they drown in the pool of digestive juices and then the plant will begin to break down the soft parts of the insects and suck out their glands.
The capture process is similar to that of anole lizards; Lizards are attracted to the smell of delicious nectar and start licking it off the lip, but this doesn’t close the deal as quickly as it does with insects. In the state of Florida, it can be very hot during the summer months and it is not always easy for lizards to find water to drink. They are tempted to push their luck by climbing into pitchers and making their way to digestive juices to drink; after all, drinking from a puddle of drowned and digested insects is better than not drinking at all. Some lizards hide inside the pitcher plants of other predators or find insects still alive inside a pitcher trap and try to capture and eat them. The problem with this is that the lizard is more likely to fall into the liquid and if it is lucky it can swim and climb to get out, but if it cannot get out and is exhausted by failed escape attempts then it will. drown and become dinner. This happens far too often for pitcher plant growers in Florida. Some pitchers can catch more lizards than they could digest, causing the trap to rot.
Insect meals can take about 3 weeks to fully digest, while anole lizards can take up to 2-3 months before leaving nothing but lizard bones at the bottom of a pitcher plant trap. A pitcher plant that only eats reptiles can grow into a very large plant and if the plant gets the moisture, heat, and lighting it needs, it can grow very large traps (depending on the species).