Carnivorous plant catches prey underground, found in Indonesia

A first-of-its-kind carnivorous plant that traps prey underground has been found on Indonesia's Borneo Island in the country's North Kalimantan province.

About the new species:

• The newly found species of pitcher plant was unearthed in the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.
• Nepenthes pudica has modified leaves, known as pitfall traps or pitchers that its prey falls into before being consumed.
• No other species of pitcher plant known to science catches its prey underground.
• The plant forms specialized underground shoots with small, white, chlorophyll-free leaves.
• The pitchers are much larger than the leaves and have a reddish color.
• This species places its up-to-11-cm-long (4.3-inch-long) pitchers underground, where they are formed in cavities or directly in the soil and trap animals living underground, usually ants, mites and beetles.
  
  

Carnivorous plants:

• Carnivorous plants attract, trap and digest animals for the nutrients they contain.
• There are currently around 630 species of carnivorous plant known to science.
• Although most meat-eating plants consume insects, larger plants are capable of digesting reptiles and small mammals.
• Smaller carnivorous plants specialise in single-celled organisms (such as bacteria and protozoa) and aquatic examples also eat crustaceans, mosquito larvae and small fish.