Walls Keep Insect Feet From Sticking

Biological Strategy

Tropical pitcher plants

AskNature Team

Image: Arddu /

Capture, Absorb, or Filter Organisms

Many living systems must secure organisms for food. But just as one living system must capture its prey to survive, its prey must escape to survive. This results in capture and avoidance strategies that include trickery, speed, poisons, constructed traps, and more. For example, a carnivorous plant called the pitcher plant has leaves formed into a tube that collect water. Long, slippery hairs within the tube face downward. When insects enter the tube seeking nectar, they lose their footing and slide inside, unable to climb out and escape being eaten and digested by the plant.

Search this Function

Flowering Plants

Clade Angiosperms (“receptacle seed”): Dandelions, oaks, grasses, cacti, apples

With 416 families containing some 300,000 known species, angiosperms are the most diverse group of plants, and they can be found around the globe in a wide variety of habitats. They are characterized by seeds that grow enclosed in ovaries, which are enclosed in flowers. The floral organs then develop into fruits of myriad kinds and dimensions, from simple seed casings on maples to elaborate fleshy growths like papayas. The oldest flower known from fossils, Montsechia vidalii, appeared during the Jurassic Period 130 million years ago. They are the primary food source for herbivorous animals, which in turn makes them the indirect food source for carnivores as well.

Search this Living System

The internal walls of pitcher plants prevent insects from escaping by clogging their feet with a flaky, waxy substance and being rough.

“The plant lures animals, from insects to amphibians to rats and even birds, into a modified leaf that forms a bowl. It does this by a combination of color, nectar, and scent.” (Zygote Quarterly)

Learn more about the pitcher plant’s strategy in Tom McKeag’s case study, “Return of the Swamp Thing” on page 16 of Zygote Quarterly:

Image: Mark Denovich /

Image: Arddu /

Last Updated November 3, 2020

References

Book

The Private Life of Plants

21/08/1995 | David Attenborough

embedly preview

Reference

Journal article

Slippery surfaces of pitcher plants: Nepenthes wax crystals minimize insect attachment via microscopic surface roughness

Journal of Experimental Biology | 12/03/2010 | I. Scholz, M. Buckins, L. Dolge, T. Erlinghagen, A. Weth, F. Hischen, J. Mayer, S. Hoffmann, M. Riederer, M. Riedel, W. Baumgartner

embedly preview

AskNature