How Do Bats Find The Right Carnivorous Plants For Safe Roosting?

Plants and Animals





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To maintain mutualism, Paleotropical carnivorous plants specifically appeal to their partners' perception. Their reflective structure is acoustically attractive for bats. Schöner et al., Current Biology 2015 with additional images courtesy of C.C. Lee

A few years ago, researchers discovered a delightful instance of mutualism in the dense greenery of Borneo. A little insect eater called Hardwicke's woolly bat (Kerivoula hardwickii) likes to rest in the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes hemsleyana. Compared to its other carnivorous relatives, this plant is pretty bad at luring insects, and that’s because it gets a third of the nitrogen it needs from bat poo. The bats fertilize the plants with their guano in exchange for a temperature-controlled roosting spot that’s free of parasites and competitors.