By a happy coincidence, ľUboš Majeský from the Palacký university in Olmütz in Czech discovered a special new way of jug plants: During their expedition in a mountainous part of the Indonesian province of Kalimantan on Borneo, the scientists came across a jug plant that completely came from theirs distinguishes previously known relatives. As you describe in "Phytokeys", the Nepenthes Pudica forms underground catch funnel, with which it captivates lifting insects and other invertebrates.
The team only thought that the fully trained jugs had been buried, but they found further copies of the plant, which also had no or only deformed jugs on the surface. When one of the parties involved removed moss in order to be able to photograph one of the plants better, he discovered a whole bundle of complete jugs who grew with reduced leaves on a short, chlorophyll -free drive. After that, the group checked further copies that all underground shoots had with the traps: confirmation that the species is actually targeting soil creatures.
The biologists attribute this to the special conditions in the plants' habitat: they grow on relatively dry mountain ridges at altitudes of 1100 to 1300 meters. The lack of moisture may have caused the species to form its pitchers in the soil, where the ecological conditions are more stable. Especially the soil moisture could help to stabilize the characteristics of the traps.
While the underground leaves remain colorless, the jugs dye themselves into the typical red, as other species have. However, they do not form a fatal trap for all soil creatures. In the jugs, mosquito larvae and worms, including a previously unknown species. If these are missing, they are also sent directly into the earth.
The region in which the species was found is so far considered to be poorly studied. So there could be even more unknown species there. At the same time, Indonesian scientist Wewin Tjiasmanto, who participated in the expedition, hopes that the discovery will help protect the area.
