Bats Are Acoustically Attracted to Mutualistic Carnivorous Plants

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Bioacoustics
• Plant-Animal Interactions

Background:

• Plant-animal mutualisms are crucial for ecosystem function, requiring effective partner communication.
• Plants often use visual and olfactory signals, but acoustic signals are rare, especially outside pollination.
• Acoustic attraction in plants has primarily been documented in Neotropical bat-pollinated flowers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence and diversity of acoustic plant-animal interactions beyond pollination.
• To test the hypothesis that acoustic attraction mechanisms exist in Paleotropical plant-bat interactions.
• To determine if a Borneo pitcher plant uses acoustic signals to attract mutualistic bats.

Main Methods:

• Conducted acoustic analyses (ensonifications) of pitcher plant orifices to assess ultrasound reflection.
• Performed behavioral experiments with bats and modified pitcher plants to evaluate attraction.
• Compared the attractiveness of pitchers with and without the concave acoustic reflector structure.

Main Results:

• The pitcher plant's concave orifice structure functions as a multidirectional ultrasound reflector.
• This acoustic structure significantly aids bats in locating and identifying the pitcher plants.
• Pitchers lacking the reflector were less attractive to the bats in behavioral trials.

Conclusions:

• Plants have convergently evolved acoustic reflectors to attract bats in both Paleotropical and Neotropical regions.
• This pitcher plant utilizes acoustic reflection for bat attraction, facilitating mutualistic interactions.
• The ecological reasons for acoustic attraction differ between Neotropical pollination and Paleotropical fertilization mutualisms.