5197 x 3323 px | 44 x 28,1 cm | 17,3 x 11,1 inches | 300dpi
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Like other species of Sarracenia, S. purpurea obtains most of its nutrients through prey capture.[2] However, prey acquisition is said to be inefficient, with less than 1% of the visiting prey captured within the pitcher.[3] Even so, anecdotal evidence by growers often shows that pitchers quickly fill up with prey during the warm summer months. Prey fall into the pitcher and drown in the rainwater that collects in the base of each leaf. Prey items such as flies, ants, spiders, and even moths, are then digested by an invertebrate community, made up mostly by the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii and the midge Metriocnemus knabi. The relationship between W. smithii and S. purpurea is an example of commensalism.[4] Protists, rotifers (including Habrotrocha rosa), and bacteria form the base of inquiline food web that shreds and mineralizes available prey, making nutrients available to the plant.[5][6][7] New pitcher leaves do produce digestive enzymes such as hydrolases and proteases, but as the individual leaves get older into their second year, digestion of prey material is aided by the community of bacteria that live within the pitchers.[8][9]
