First record of functional underground traps in a pitcher plant: Nepenthes pudica (Nepenthaceae), a new species from North Kalimantan, Borneo

By

Dančák, Martin, 1974-
Majeský, Ľuboš
Čermák, Václav
Golos, Michal
Plachno, Bartosz J
Tjiasmanto, Wewin

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

PhytoKeys

Volume

201

Pages

77--97

Subjects

Borneo , carnivorous plant , Caryophyllales , Mentarang Hulu , Prey composition , taxonomy , underground trap

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers [2010]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.201.82872

 

Abstract

Nepenthes pudica, a new species from North Kalimantan, Indonesia, is described and illustrated. The species belongs to theN. hirsutagroup (sensu Cheek and Jebb 1999) but exhibits some characters that are unique within the group or even within the genus. Above all, it produces underground, achlorophyllous shoots with well-developed, ventricose lower pitchers that form in soil cavities or directly in the soil. No lower pitchers are formed above ground. The main part of its prey are ants, besides other litter- and soil-inhabiting species of invertebrates. A number of infaunal species were found in both aerial and underground pitchers, mainly Diptera and nematodes.Nepenthes pudicais known only from a few neighbouring localities in the Mentarang Hulu district of North Kalimantan, where it grows on ridgetops at an elevation of 1100–1300 m. Its discovery underlines the natural richness of Borneo’s rainforest and the necessity to preserve this important ecosystem with its enormous and still undiscovered biodiversity.