Fatal attraction: carnivorous plants roll out the red carpet to lure insects

Abstract

We provide the first experimental test of the hypothesis that the coloration of carnivorous plants can act as a signal to lure insects and thus enhance capture rates. An experimental approach was needed to separate effects of the visual appearance of plants from those of traits that may correlate with appearance and also affect capture rates. We compared insect capture rates of pitcher plants with artificially coloured red and green pitchers in a paired design, and found that plants with red pitchers captured significantly more flying insects. Thus, we present the first experimental evidence of visual signalling in carnivorous plants. Further, it has previously been suggested that carnivorous plants use contrasting stripes or UV marks on their pitchers to lure insects; our results emphasize that insect traps do not need to sport contrasting colours to be attractive; it might be sufficient to be different from the background.