Live Ends in a Wine Glass

Why pitchers come on the tip of the leaves is still a mystery. It may be God's gracious for the plants living on a dry and poor nutrients land. Through their pitchers, nepenthes traps and ripes off insects, its preys. It then absorbs the victims' essence into 'a delicious diet'. It is tragic, but that is the way nature works. How insects become 'delicious diet' for nepenthes, here is the story.
Kantong semar produces a scent coming from nectar glands which the insects smell. Ants, termites, beetles, and mosquitos come by. When they are enjoying themselves finding the scent source while walking on the pitcher lip, slup...! They slipped into the pitcher.
Inside the pitcher, the victims are adrift and buffeted in the pitcher liquid. According to Dr Arief Budi Witarto, a researcher on the Indonesian Institute of Science (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI)), the liquid is actually water. 'Only it contains positive ion so it has an acid nature,' said the doktor of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Inside the liquid there is also an enzym. A research in Japan shows that there is a proteolase enzym alias nepenthesin enzyme. There is also kitinase enzyme.Resembling a stomach
Once the insects are trapped inside the pitcher, the acid and enzyme start working. First of all the pitcher acid rips the insects' body into big molecules, that is protein. The process goes on chemically. The eggshell is dispersed by kitinase enzyme. 'But this molecule is actually still big enough to be absorped by the nepenthes,' said Arief.
It is time for nepenthesin enzyme to start working. The molecules are broken down into smaller pieces such as nitrogen, phosphor, potassium, and other minerals. Those elements are the ones that entuyut absorbs, and then they are turned into food at the leaves. 'So it resembles a human stomach,' said the winner of Best Creation in Engineering in 2005 from the Indonesian Engineers Society (Perhimpunan Insinyur Indonesia).
A research from Victoria University, Canada, shows that nepenthes indeed takes N from the insects body. Periuk monyet leaves is extracted to be checked its N and C contents. It is compared with insects. Apparently, the leaves contents is almost the same as the insects sample.
The unique part is that each variety has its own favourite diet. N. gracilis prefers to trap coleoptera-beetles-and diptera, mosquitos. N. bicalcarata 'eats' sembada ant-big black ants. While N. albomarginata eats termites. The insects may differ, but their fate are the same. Die in a wine glass.