Nepenthes Infauna - Diversity

Diversity

In a 1991 study, a wide diversity of animals was found in pitchers of Nepenthes ampullaria:

Carrion feeders:

  • Endonepenthia (Phoridae)
  • Syrphidae

Filter feeders:

  • Aedes albopictus, Culex coerulescens, Culex hewitti, Culex navalis, Tripteroides nepenthis, Tripteroides tenax, Uranotaenia moultoni (Culicidae)

Detritus feeders:

  • several Anoetidae
  • Dasyhelea, Forcipomyia (Ceratopogonidae)
  • several Chironomidae
  • Harpacticoida
  • Sciaridae

Nipping predators (can swim in the fluid, mandibles move against one another in a horizontal plane):

  • Aedes brevitibia, Toxorhynchites indicus (Culicidae)
  • Corethrella calathicola (Chaoboridae)

Hooking predators (can only crawl, mandibles move parallel to one another in a vertical plane):

  • Dolichopodidae
  • Listodiplosis (Cecidomyiidae)
  • Nepenthosyrphus (Syrphidae)

Terrestrial predators:

  • Misumenops (Thomisidae)
  • Xenoplatyura (Mycetophilidae)

Nepenthebiont Diptera:

  • Aedes brevitibia
  • several Chironomidae
  • Corethrella calathicola
  • Culex hewitti
  • Culex coerulescens
  • Culex navalis
  • several Dasyhelea species (D. ampullariae, D. biseriata and others)
  • Dolichopodidae
  • Endonepenthia
  • Nepenthosyrphus
  • Toxorhynchites indicus
  • Tripteroides nepenthis
  • Tripteroides tenax
  • Uranotaenia moultoni

Read more about this topic:  Nepenthes Infauna

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