Where else do Nepenthes grow besides Southeast Asia?

Madagascar and northern Australia

Nepenthes Quiz: Tropical Pitchers, Monkey Cups and Tree Shrews

This Nepenthes quiz climbs into the cloud forests of Borneo to explore tropical pitcher plants. Play 10 interactive questions on pitchers growing from leaf tendrils, slippery rims, digestive fluid, the nickname monkey cups, the huge pitchers of Nepenthes rajah, a pitcher that collects tree shrew droppings, another where bats roost and their spread from Madagascar to Australia.

Start Nepenthes Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Type
What are Nepenthes?
Grow
Where do the pitchers form?
Rim
What makes the pitcher rim dangerous for insects?
Fluid
What fills the pitcher bottom?
Nick
What is a common nickname for Nepenthes?
Rajah
What is Nepenthes rajah famous for?
Shrew
Which animal uses Nepenthes lowii pitchers as a toilet?
Why
Why do tree shrews visit those pitchers?
Bats
Which animal roosts in some Nepenthes pitchers?
Range
Where else do Nepenthes grow besides Southeast Asia?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What are Nepenthes?
Answer: Tropical pitcher plants
Many grow in Southeast Asia.
Q2: Where do the pitchers form?
Answer: At the tips of leaf tendrils
They hang or sit on the ground.
Q3: What makes the pitcher rim dangerous for insects?
Answer: It is slippery
Wet rims are slickest.
Q4: What fills the pitcher bottom?
Answer: Digestive fluid
Prey dissolves slowly.
Q5: What is a common nickname for Nepenthes?
Answer: Monkey cups
Monkeys were said to drink from them.
Q6: What is Nepenthes rajah famous for?
Answer: Very large pitchers
It grows on Mount Kinabalu.
Q7: Which animal uses Nepenthes lowii pitchers as a toilet?
Answer: Tree shrews
The plant gains nitrogen.
Q8: Why do tree shrews visit those pitchers?
Answer: To lick sweet secretions
They leave droppings behind.
Q9: Which animal roosts in some Nepenthes pitchers?
Answer: Bats
The plant gains their droppings.
Q10: Where else do Nepenthes grow besides Southeast Asia?
Answer: Madagascar and northern Australia
Borneo has the most species.

Pitchers, Shrews and Bats

Nepenthes are tropical pitcher plants, found from Madagascar to northern Australia, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and especially Borneo. Their pitchers form at the tips of leaf tendrils, hanging from vines or resting on the ground. They are nicknamed monkey cups, from stories of monkeys drinking from them.

Insects attracted by nectar step onto the slippery rim, which is slickest when wet, and fall into digestive fluid at the bottom, where they slowly dissolve. Nepenthes rajah, found on Mount Kinabalu, has very large pitchers.

Some species have unusual partners. Tree shrews lick sweet secretions from Nepenthes lowii and leave droppings in the pitcher, giving the plant nitrogen. Another species provides roosts for small bats, gaining nutrients from their droppings. These partnerships help the plants thrive on poor soils.

What This Quiz Teaches

Plant fans will enjoy these questions.

What Nepenthes are
How pitchers trap prey
Which species are famous
Which animals partner with them
Where they grow

Did You Know?

Pitchers have lids that block rain.
Some host tiny frogs.
Collectors grow them in greenhouses.
Upper and lower pitchers can differ.
Mosquito larvae live in some pitchers.