Prey composition of six Nepenthes species in Pematang Gadung, West Kalimantan

Abstract

Nepenthes traps prey using its pitcher as an adaptation to thrive in low-nutrient habitats. This study aims to identify and analyze the composition of prey trapped in the pitchers of six Nepenthes species occur in Pematang Gadung. The preys were collected by purposive sampling from five pitchers of each species (N. ampullaria, N. bicalcarata, N. gracilis, N. mirabilis, N. rafflesiana and, N. x hookeriana) in two habitat types (peat swamp forest and heath forest). The diversity of prey trapped by Nepenthes was analyzed using Past Software Version 4.0. based on the Shannon index (H′) for each species and the Jaccard index to compare prey diversity between habitat types. A total of 1149 individual prey was collected, comprise seven orders of insects (Class Insecta) and one order of arachnids (Class Arachnida). The predominant prey was the insect of order Hymenoptera (85.90%), especially the family Formicidae. The other orders of insects were Diptera (10.36%), Coleoptera (1.48%), Blattodea (0.96%), Orthoptera (0.61%), and Hemiptera (0.09%). The order of arachnid was Araneae (0.61%). The most diverse prey was found in the pitchers of N. gracilis (H′= 0.79). The diversity of prey trapped by Nepenthes in both habitats has high similarity (JI = 0.71).