Meet the Pitcher Plant
In Meet the Pitcher Plant, narrator Sir David Attenborough explores the pitcher plant. The pitcher plant gets most of its nutrients from insects, which it traps using its waxy sides to prevent insects from escaping. Learn how the red crab spider spends its entire life inside pitcher plants, and can dive down to the bottom of the pitcher by creating a bubble of air around itself. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
Lesson Express
Q: Why are there so many specialists in the jungle?
A: There is competition for everything, and it’s hard to find enough food to survive, so the animals have to adapt.
Q: How does the red spider prevent itself from being trapped by the pitcher plant like other insects?
A: The spider uses its silk threads to hang on and pull itself back up.
Q: How do the red spider and the pitcher plant help each other?
A: The spider can eat the corpses of bigger insects that would be too dangerous if alive, and the spider returns digested remains of the insect providing instant food for the pitcher plant.
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