Natures wonders: pitcher plants as bat motels (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, July 13, 2015, 14:55 (3419 days ago) @ David Turell

Great system. The plant reflects sonar to invite the bat, who gets a good nights sleep while the plant is paid in guano, a great fertilizer:-http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43500/title/Mammal-Carnivorous-Flower-Mutualism/-"Some bats in Borneo have living sleeping bags thanks to carnivorous pitcher plants that can snuggly accommodate one of the sleeping mammals in their vase-shaped flowers. And researchers working in peat swap forests on the tropical island have discovered that the plants have evolved a unique way of advertising the cozy roost: by reflecting back the bats' sonar in a unique way. The scientists reported their findings last week (July 9) in Current Biology. The pitcher plants—which constitute the first known example of a plant using a sonic method of attracting a mutualistic partner for fertilization rather than pollination—benefit from serving as bat hotels because the slumbering mammals deposit guano into the flower, fertilizing the plant.-"The researchers determined that the pitcher plant, Nepenthes hemsleyana, advertises itself as a roost to Hardwicke's woolly bats, Kerivoula hardwickii, by reflecting back the bats' high-frequency sonar calls in a way that distinguishes it from other, less accommodating, plants in the ecosystem. The slender, vase-like shape of N. hemsleyana's flowers, which shares the habitat with hundreds of other pitcher plant species, appears to be crucial to this reflective communication."