IG TRANSACTIONS OF THE [oCT. 17, 



The contents of one huadred closed leaves were collected and 

 gave the following; results: — Eighty-five had secured 

 material of organic origin ; of this number four-fifths had closed 

 upon vegetable objects, bits of twigs, grasses, decayed wood, 

 seed pods, seeds, fragments of leaves — in six of these instances 

 digestive juices were clearly marked although careful examin- 

 ation failed to show traces of insects that might have furnished 

 the usual peptogene. The scarcity of insect prey was especially 

 remarkable, to be attributed in a measure, doubtless, to the 

 early season. The i:)resence of so great a proportion of ingested 

 vegetable material is certainly significant in view of the habits 

 of Drosera, Pinguicula and, as lately shown, Utricularia ; and it 

 would not be altogether unreasonable to look more closely into 

 the vegetable element of the plant's food. Of the younger 

 leaves that were closed about thirty per cent, were found to 

 have secured insects — perhajDS on account of greater sensitivity. 

 Insects that had been naturally taken appear to be curiously 

 small in size ; the largest of one hundred taken from closed 

 leaves proving not more than 1-4 inch in length, the majority 

 of forms were scarcely more than 1-12 inch. The largest leaves 

 appear to secure the largest insects. The proportion of the 

 kinds of insects included might evidently be a most variable 

 one — at that season the ground insects certainly constituted the 

 bulk of forms. * Of one hundred insects three-quarters were, 

 roughly speaking, ground insects, ants, beetles,- small spiders, 

 staphylinids. The remainder was almost entirely dipterous — 

 Chironomus, a common form —occasionally a small ichneumon. 

 As a rare article of diet should be mentioned a small moth 

 pupa that had doubtless been contributed by the wind. 



It seems most probable from the above notes that the plant's 

 predatory nature is not as forminable as its exceedingly special- 

 ized traps might lead one to expect. Among all the leaves 

 examined the largest ca})tive did not exceed 1-4 inch. Cases of 

 capture of dragon fiies and large moths that have been reported 

 must be, it would appear, of exceptional occurrence. The leaf 

 itself does not apj)eai to be sufficiently strong to retain the larger 

 and more active insects, even granting that they may be securely 

 caught. The secretion of the digestive juices, moreover, does 

 not appear to be sufficiently ra])i<l in its action or effects to be 

 of material sei'vice. It is certain that the larger insects are not 

 invariably retained as already shown by experiments. In these 

 cases, moreover, the insects' exertions could not have been most 



• The leaves recoived by Darwin from Dr. Caubywer*^ not improbably selected 

 as ^howiuK witrns of having taken well sized prey. cousistiuK as above mainly of 

 tcrouud iuset'ta. 



