THE PITCHER PLANT 9 



plants draw sustenance from many insects enticed 

 into the Pitchers by their honeyed lips* Once inside, 

 the venturesome invader is doomed, for the throat 

 is armed with a formidable coating of sharp spines, 

 pointing downward. These facilitate the descent, 

 but make return to the open air impossible* The 

 struggling victim, in his futile efforts, is caught on 

 one of the sharp spines and thrown into the water, 

 where he speedily succumbs, nourishing the plant 

 that enticed him to his fate* 



The water in the Pitchers has a digestive effect, 

 and the plant draws nutriment from the insects 

 dissolved in it* But the resources of the insect world 

 are infinite, and some diminutive visitors contrive 

 to make of the threatening death-trap a comfortable 

 dwelling* When a mass of undigested wings, legs, 

 and armour plates of the invading insects accumulates 

 in the bottom of a Pitcher an enterprising fly of the 

 genus Sarcophaga finds in the refuse a suitable 

 habitation for her coming brood* She enters without 

 any trouble, deposits her eggs, and, by a strange 

 dexterity, makes her escape again* When her young 

 brood hatch out, the larvae feed on the accumulated 

 remains, and in due time make their escape, regardless 

 of the barbs that threaten to impale them* 



These sojourners are harmless and perhaps 

 beneficial to the plant, but another tenant, a small 

 moth, lives at the expense of her habitation* She goes 



