An international team of researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the University of Greifswald, and Universiti Brunei Drussalam has discovered that Nepenthes hemsleyana – a pitcher plant found in Borneo – uses an echo reflector to attract bats. However, it is not the bats themselves that the plants are after, but their droppings. As the pitcher plants grow in soil that is low in nutrients they need additional fertiliser and the bats’ droppings provide them with vital nutrients. In return, the plants offer the bats the perfect place to sleep inside their pitchers.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      108 months ago

      Good this isn’t one of them then. According to the quote they offer the bats a safe place to sleep and in turn derive nutrients from their droppings