The habitat on Borneo where researchers discovered the new pitcher plantīecause they form underground and must push soil and other debris out of the way as they grow, the new species’ pitchers are thicker and sturdier than those found on other pitcher plants. The new species, however, can capture the same size of prey as other, above-ground pitcher plants. pudica, which means they can only capture microscopic or very small prey. Charles Darwin stumbled upon the first evidence of these special species in 1875, and, since then, researchers have identified more than 700 meat-eating plants.Ī handful of other carnivorous, non-pitcher plants catch their prey underground, but their traps are tiny compared to those of N. Nepenthes pudica Courtesy of Martin DančákĬarnivorous plants produce digestive enzymes that help them break down and absorb their prey for sustenance.

Scientists discovered an array of insects in the pitchers, including mosquito larvae, nematodes and even a new worm species. Then, it waits for tasty ants, mites, beetles and other underground critters to fall or wander into the pitchers. pudica develops subterranean pitchers that can grow up to 4.3 inches long, according to the researchers. The name itself is a nod to the plant’s hidden pitchers: Pudica comes from the Latin word for bashful. “We were, of course, astonished as nobody would expect that a pitcher plant with underground traps could exist,” Martin Dančák, a botanist at Palacký University in the Czech Republic, tells ScienceNews’ Meghan Rosen. Researchers believe Nepenthes pudica is the first recorded pitcher plant that feeds below the surface, according to a paper published in late June in the journal PhytoKeys. Now, that fateful discovery has led to the identification of a new species of pitcher plant, one that traps and eats bugs underground. The underground pitchers of Nepenthes pudica Courtesy of Martin Dančák

Pitfall trap plants