are carnivorous plants, and as such they are fascinating people
since they are known. We - as we are animals - use to think that
plants grow to be eaten by us, not to eat for themselves. But
the carnivorous plants turn the tables. The vegetable strikes
back. The 'pitcher plants' comprise several genera of
carnivorous plants without closer relationship. One of them is
the genus Nepenthes, the tropical pitcher plants. They live in
the moist tropics of the Old World, from Madagascar via Sri
Lanka and the islands of Southeast Asia down to Australia. This
site is dedicated to them. Their traps are bizarre pitchers,
often colourful like an exotic flower. It's hard to believe that
they are only specialised leaves. They aren't simply pits
waiting for the next stupid animal to fall in. The rim covered
with slippery wax, the pitcher filled with digestive fluid, they
attract their prey with colour, sugar and smell. And while being
deadly traps for most insects, they are a place to live for
others. Larvae of mosquitoes o