Tropical pitcher plants are the queen of carnivorous plants in the world. They are the only carnivorous plants that can grow to sizes large enough to swallow large insects or large rodents. Tropical pitcher plants are native to the ancient tropics and are found around Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Sumatra. There are over 150 different species of tropical pitcher plants and each shows Mother Nature’s dark side of revenge against small mammals and insects. The largest tropical pitcher plant to date is “Nepenthes Rajah”. Nepenthes means a plant of a genus that includes the Old World pitcher plants.

Although these plants are beautiful and create some of the most amazing looking flowers that are completely harmless, the fact that the flower was created due to all the nutrients it captured from the prey it devoured is terrifying. Growing one of these king carnivorous plants in your own backyard means setting a death trap for any small critters nearby. In Lakeland Florida, the Nepenthes Miranda species is known to take a particular prey far too often than any insect or bug. Although this prey can potentially escape most of the time, it has been seen on YouTube, books, and photographs that this prey can grow into plant dinner if it falls into a big trap that happens all too often in Lakeland Florida.

Anole lizards appear to play an important role in any Nepenthes diet in Lakeland Florida. These lizards are everywhere and have become the highlight of an unsuspecting eating plan. It is truly sad to see these anole lizards become part of a plant source of protein; they don’t seem to get a break at all. Cats don’t just feast on them, birds, large insects, fish and other reptiles like frogs and toads will gobble up these lizards and now we’re adding plants as their enemies. With over a billion of these lizards in the state of Florida, there is plenty for everyone.

So how are they caught? It is very simple and somewhat different than how insects are caught. Let’s first explain the difference. Insects fall victim to Nepenthes pitcher plants for 2 main reasons; by the color of the plant and by the nectar of the plant. Nepenthes pitcher plants create colorful leaves and traps that catch the attention of hungry bugs and passing insects. The leaves resemble delicious fruit and the nectar the plant releases around the lip of the trap seals the deal and tricks the insects into thinking it’s a free meal at no cost. The bug will land on the lip and start sucking nectar from the plant, but they don’t know that the nectar is drugged. Almost like a human drinking beer or vodka, drink too much and it’s over. The edge of the traps is also slippery, designed so that prey can fall into the trap when they have become dazed and can no longer hold onto the slippery surface. Once at the bottom, they drown in the pool of digestive juices and then the plant will start to break down the soft parts of the insects and suck out their acorns.

The capture process is similar to that of anole lizards; Lizards are attracted by the smell of the delicious nectar and begin to lick it off their lips, but this doesn’t seal the deal as quickly as it does with insects. In the state of Florida, it can be very hot during the summer months and it is not always easy for lizards to find drinking water. They are tempted to try their luck by climbing into the jars and head for the digestive juices to drink; after all, drinking from a puddle of drowned and digested insects is better than not drinking at all. Some lizards hide inside pitcher plants from other predators or find insects still alive inside a pitcher trap and try to capture and eat them. The problem with this is that the gecko will probably fall into the liquid and if he’s lucky he can swim and climb his way out, but if he can’t get out and gets exhausted from failed attempts to escape then he will. drained and made into dinner. This happens far too often for pitcher plant growers in Florida. Some casters can catch more lizards than they can digest, causing the trap to rot.

Insect meals can take around 3 weeks to fully digest, while anole lizards can take up to 2-3 months before leaving anything but lizard bones at the bottom of a pitcher plant trap. A carnivorous plant that eats nothing but reptiles can become a very large plant and if the plant is given the moisture, warmth and light it needs, it can develop some very large traps (depending on the species).