A few year ago , research worker discovered a delicious instance of symbiosis in the thick verdure of Borneo . A little insect eater bid Hardwicke ’s woolly squash racket ( Kerivoula hardwickii ) likes to take a breather in the carnivorous pitcher plantNepenthes hemsleyana . Compared to its other carnivorous relative , this plant life is pretty bad at luring dirt ball , and that ’s because it get a third of the nitrogen it take from bat poo . The bats fertilise the plants with their guano in exchange for a temperature - controlled roosting patch that ’s devoid of parasites and contender .
Now , researchers have discovered a novel twirl : This twirler plant has an acoustic reflector that sends the bats ' ultrasonic call back to them , help them find a cosy , desirable plaza to roost . The findings are publish inCurrent Biologythis week .
" Carnivorous plants in oecumenical have already solved the trouble of nutrient insufficiency in a very unusual manner by reversing the ' normal arrangement ' of fauna feeding on plants,“Michael Schöner of Ernst - Moritz - Arndt - University of Greifswaldsays in astatement . " It is even more astonishing that in the case ofN. hemsleyanathe system of rules is charter a new turn . WhileN. hemsleyanareduced many dirt ball - attracting trait , it obviously exhibit some traits that are extremely attractive for a species that supply the plants with nutrient without being digested by the flora itself . " Bats do n’t devolve into the plant ’s digestive juices – typically reserved for insects – thanks to the pitcher ’s qualify shape and low fluid stage .
But on the dot how the bat and their plant partner ascertain each other has been a bit of a mystery story . These cricket bat emit the highest frequencies ever recorded in bats , but in a cluttered swamp , it ’s a tough challenge for them to distinguish the reflected replication of the rare pitcher plant specie from that of more vernacular , similarly shaped one that are ill - suited for roosting .
To investigate , Schöner and colleagues plow to an artificial bat head that emits and records ultrasounds to test the pitchers ' acoustical coefficient of reflection from various positions and angles . Turns out , the squash racquet are acoustically attracted to carnivorous plants . The squad discovered a strong sound reflection thoughtfulness from the pitcher ' back wall , which seem to bring perfectly as an ultrasound reflector . Similar adaptions have been found in flowers that rely on ambrosia - fertilise bats to pollinate them .
With behavioral experiment in a escape tent , the mutualistic bats responded to sound echoed back to them from the carnivorous plant . The bat were also good at finding pitcher plants shroud with shrubbery when their reflectors were intact , compare to those with trimmed , reduced reflectors . They also prefer to perch in unmodified pitchers .
" With these structures , the plants are capable to acoustically place upright out from their environment so that bats can easily find them,“Schöner adds . " Moreover , the bats are intelligibly able-bodied to distinguish their flora partner from other plant that are similar in figure but miss the conspicuous reflector . "
Schöner et al . , Current Biology 2015 with extra images courtesy of M.D. Tuttle .
