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Tiny pitchers, big personality. My *Nepenthes ampullaria* is still young, but those little round buds are already full of promise. Unlike most Nepenthes, *N. ampullaria* is a detritivore at heart — its squat, flask-shaped pitchers are designed less for catching insects and more for collecting fallen leaf litter from the forest floor above. Nutrients from decomposing leaves, not bugs. Nature is endlessly creative. 🍂

This species is widespread across Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, and comes in a huge range of colour forms — from plain green to deep red and spotted "Harlequin" types. Can't wait to see which form this one turns out to be as it matures.

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Kleine bekers, grote persoonlijkheid. Mijn *Nepenthes ampullaria* is nog jong, maar die kleine ronde knopjes zijn al veelbelovend. Anders dan de meeste Nepenthes is *N. ampullaria* van nature een detritivoor — haar gedrongen, fles­vormige bekers zijn minder bedoeld om insecten te vangen en meer om gevallen bladeren van de bosbodem te verzamelen. Voeding uit rottende bladeren in plaats van insecten. De natuur is eindeloos creatief. 🍂

Deze soort komt wijd verspreid voor op Borneo, Sumatra en het Maleisisch Schiereiland, en bestaat in een enorme variatie aan kleurvormen — van gewoon groen tot diep rood en gevlekte "Harlequin"-types. Ik ben benieuwd welke vorm dit exemplaar blijkt te zijn naarmate het groeit.

#Nepenthes
#NepenthesAmpullaria
#TropicalPitcherPlant
#CarnivorousPlants
#VleesetendePlanten
#Insecteneters
#detritivore
#Borneo
#Sumatra
#PlantCollection
#plantenverzameling
#newgrowth
#nieuwegroei
#carnivoresofinstagram
#DorgaldirsGarden
#Dorgaldirs_Garden

A colourful fluffy #coot chick swims in a lake near #Rottweil, Germany.
Photograph: Silas Stein

A blue-coloured #treefrog, normally known for its green colour, holds on to a leaf in the #Karacabey district of #Bursa, Turkey
Photograph: Anadolu

A rose #chafer beetle often seen on flowers; they’re a #detritivore - feeds on dead and decaying matter and recycle its nutrients - which makes a helpful addition to any #compost.
Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine

Functional diversity of shredders, not species richness, drives the decomposition rate of leaf litter in ponds

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1286672/full
#Freshwater #Ecology #Hydrobiology #Rivers #StreamEcology #detritivore #BodySize

Frontiers | Functional diversity of shredders, not species richness, drives the decomposition rate of leaf litter in ponds

Leaf litter decomposition is a critical ecosystem-level process in many freshwater habitats. Although ponds are likely to derive a large proportion of their ...

Frontiers
For fun this week I'm going to take apart and clean my Apple Pro keyboard (model A1048) that has been accumulating spewed coffee, crumbs, skin cells, and hair for exactly 20 years. So quick poll, do you think I'll find anything alive? And rest assured, I'm going to post some pics. #nature #detritivore #ecosystems #keyboard #computer #apple #tmi
Yes
85.2%
No
14.8%
Poll ended at .