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The Extremely Liberal Podcast on Diversity, Guns, Lance, Emos & The GOP!
Recorded on January 16, 2013, we pontificate about diversity in the President's cabinet, Newtown & gun safety, the latest "Emo" opportunism, Lance Armstrong and the ongoing fun of watching the wheels come off the Republican party. Notice we now have an RSS Feed (upper-right column). Go on, give us a listen.
To download the mp3, right click and "Save As" (67 mb).
January 17, 2013 Posted by ExtremeLiberal | Podcast, Politics, Republican Party | Diversity, Emos, Extremely Liberal Podcast, GOP, Gun Safety, Guns, Lance Armstrong, Massacre Control | Leave a comment
Who The Hell Am I!
I'm a liberal that is extreme in some ways and not in others. I support President Obama and make no apologies for it. I think he has done a phenomenal job, especially when you consider that he inherited a huge mess and has faced unprecedented opposition from a lazy & desperate Republican Party. I'm a film producer/director/editor, adjunct professor, technician, media critic and photographer when I'm not reading left wing blogs and typing on this one. – On Twitter @ExtremeLiberal or Email at liberalforreal (at) gmail.com
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The Ron Laufer Group is a Real Estate Group in New York. The cover page that we are looking for will be used on marketing materials that are being sent to potential clients. The cover must include the picture and all verbiage on the attached cover page. We are looking for something a bit more polished and professional than what we are currently using..
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Seattle's transportation future, part I
What will KC Metro's long range plan look like? On Tuesday, March 31st, listen to a panel discussion and share your thoughts. If you can't make the discussion, you can weigh in here.
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Readers, on skiing, paying, and saving
From Miles in Everett: another option for car-free skiers.
Another great transit-to-the-slopes option that wasn't mentioned in your column last month is connecting Stevens Pass shuttle from Sultan. It's possible to take one of Community Transit's 270-series routes from Everett Station to the Mountain View Chevron just east of the Sultan Park and Ride, then catch the Stevens Pass shuttle from there. If starting in Seattle, Sound Transit Route 510 runs every half-hour between Seattle and Everett weekdays, and hourly on Sundays. At less than $10 each way, this is, as far …
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Category: reasons to ride Tagged bus to the pass, cost of cars, MBTA
Category: reasons to ride Tagged bus to the pass, cost of cars, MBTA


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28, Brossard, QC, CANI am an outgoing and bubbly woman deeply involved with my parish. I am presently focusing on my relationship with God and growing in my faith. My Catholic values are deeply ro...
22, QuÉBec, QC, CAN* * * I am a french Quebecer, so first, excuse my English ! * * * My name is Noemie. (There is an accent on the first "e", but this site does not seem to want me to have on...
31, Montreal, QC, CANI love life, art, music and getting to know new people. I consider family as a very important value. I grew up in Montreal, lived in the Laurentians for a while and then moved...
32, Montreal, QC, CANI am a young Catholic woman who loves life, people, and the Lord. I am community oriented and I deeply value my culture and my family. My faith is what colours my life and it ...
20, L'le-Perrot, QC, CANHi everyone! My name is Laurence, and just to let yo know, my first language is french...but i'm able to have conversations in English to :P I am a student in special educati...
59, Laval, QC, CANFamily and friends are an important part of my life. My work in the IT field is satisfying and challenging. I also love doing volunteer work. I enjoy walking, reading, trav...
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64, Pierrefonds, QC, CANI am passionate about a good life with someone that I have faith on him. I like to help others in a good way and make them trust on the possibility they have to manage their ...
37, Montreal, QC, CANI'm very family-oriented, caring, smart and optimistic woman. Love to smile and laugh! I love traveling very much. watching movies and listening any kinds of music....
51, La Durantaye, QC, CANI live near the St-Lawrence with my 3 children ages 22,16 and 14. I'm active, caring, pragmatic, like the outdoors and nature.It would be nice to share it with someone special...
25, QuéBec, QC, CANI live in Quebec City, with my two brothers who love to make me laugh. I am really close to my family and my friends. I lived in the US up till I was 12, so I can consider mys...
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Idiot! An Unlikely Pilgrimage to Napoleon Dynamite's Hometown
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I have been getting more and more e-mails from readers in their late 50s and early 60s who are doing some retirement planning and looking for ways to get the best return on their Social Security "investment." That's why I decided to produce a fact sheet that I call "Five Ways To Maximize Your Social Security Benefits." The fact sheet is too long to reproduce in this column. So, I am going to just briefly summarize its contents and then invite readers who want more information to send me an e-mail asking for a free electronic copy of the ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - The latest snapshot of economic growth shows the U.S. recovery remains tepid.
SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft launched a radical redesign of its world-dominating Windows operating system Thursday, introducing a touch-enabled interface that attempts to bridge the gap between personal computers and fast-growing mobile devices powered by the company's fiercest competitors.
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple has a new iPhone, two new iPads and three new PCs as it heads into the holiday quarter, the biggest selling season of the year. But, paradoxically, it expects these new gadgets to bring down its profits compared to last year.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Diamond Foods Inc. said Thursday that it will restate two additional quarters of financial data as the snack food company tries to clean up the fallout from its improper accounting of payments to walnut growers.
SEATTLE (AP) - Amazon reported third-quarter results below Wall Street's expectations on Thursday - including a large loss, weighed by its stake in online deals service LivingSocial and continued spending on its Kindle business and distribution centers.
WASHINGTON (AP) - CEOs from more than 80 major U.S. companies are pressing Congress to reduce the federal deficit by raising taxes and cutting spending. The deficit and how to tame it has become a key theme in the presidential campaign.
MENLO PARK (AP) - Facebook's stock gained the most in a single day Wednesday since it began trading in May, a sign that the social media company's complicated relationship with Wall Street may be getting brighter.
SAM FRANCISCO (AP) - Battered shares of Zynga Inc. soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the social gaming company posted stronger-than-expected revenue for the third quarter and said it will enter the gambling business.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can't afford to be wrong about Windows 8.
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (AP) - Lawyers for ABC News are asking to have a defamation lawsuit against the company filed by a South Dakota beef processing plant transferred from circuit court to federal court.
Fed cites moderate growth, takes no new action
SAN JOSE (AP) - Apple Inc.'s pencil-thin, smaller iPad will cost much more than its competitors, signaling that the company isn't going to get into a mini-tablet price war.
MENLO PARK (AP) - Facebook finally has proof that it can make money from mobile advertising.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of Medicare patients with severe chronic illnesses such as Alzheimer's would get continuing access to rehab and other services under a change agreed to by the Obama administration, advocates said Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Kohl's rose Wednesday after the department store operator said it was pleased with its fourth quarter sales and said its base business improved.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Technology's big-spending trio of Google, Facebook, and Amazon.com appear to be tightening their belts - at least a notch - in a concession to cost-conscious investors and a strong dollar that's taking a big bite out of their revenue.
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple is planning another large bond sale at a time when investors are paying near record premiums for high-quality bonds.
NEW YORK (AP) - An estimated 114.4 million people watched New England's thrilling win over Seattle, making it the fifth time in six years that a Super Bowl game has set a record for the most-watched event in U.S. television history.
PALO ALTO (AP) - Hewlett-Packard boss Meg Whitman has graduated from the dollar-a-year club, as the struggling company prepares to split up.
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple CEO Tim Cook says consumer demand for new iPhones has been "staggering" and "hard to comprehend." That helped the company report record-smashing earnings for its latest quarter and sent the stock climbing more than 7 percent on Wednesday.
MENLO PARK (AP) - For the seventh quarter in a row Facebook beat profit and revenue forecasts, continuing to win more mobile advertising revenue as most users shift to using the site on smartphones and other portable devices.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A 24-hour White Castle location on the Las Vegas Strip that opened to long lines of the burger chain's fans had to close for more than two hours to restock after its grand opening.
MENLO PARK (AP) - No storm selfies, hookups, status updates. With Facebook and Instagram down for nearly an hour overnight, what were legions of users to do?
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple had another blowout quarter thanks to its new plus-sized iPhones, which helped the company smash sales records for the holiday season.
SUNNYVALE (AP) - Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is spinning off the company's $39 billion stake in China's Alibaba Group Holding in a move that wards off a potential shareholder rebellion.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - They were supposed to be saviors of downtown, drawing people by offering parking as plentiful as at any suburban shopping mall.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Calling it "ridiculous" and "baseless," IBM on Monday dismissed a report that said the technology giant plans to lay off 1 in 4 of its workers, or 100,000 people.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Big jumps in sales of its Surface tablets, cloud computing software and Lumia smartphones drove Microsoft's quarterly revenue above expectations, as CEO Satya Nadella continues to steer toward the mobile gadget market and shift Microsoft away from its traditional focus on the PC.


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Meir Panim delivers warmth, special care to families in need.
Well, it's finally over – and about time, too. After two years of seemingly endless campaigning and eight of partisan bickering and recriminations, the country appears to have turned a historic corner.
In his victory speech, Barack Obama brought many to tears among the tens of thousands gathered to hear him in Chicago's Grant Park. He struck the right notes, too, graciously reaching out to John McCain and his supporters while promising to defend the nation against its enemies. For a few moments many of us who have anguished for months over the prospects of handing the Pelosi-Reid Congress a blank check to govern could forget that worry and lose ourselves in the music of this historic moment.
A little earlier in the evening, John McCain gave his own speech. It was gracious and eloquent in its plainspoken way. Looking on, no doubt, from the White House he will soon vacate, George W. Bush must have wondered at the fickleness of American voters.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal a day after the election, reporter Jeffrey Scott Shapiro noted that Bush has been "blamed for everything … despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right." The partisan rancor that has infected this nation for the eight years of Bush's presidency, and which finally culminated in a wholesale repudiation of his party and ideas on November 4, was, Shapiro wrote, "nothing less than a national disgrace. The attacks launched against [Bush] have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve [Americans] have."
These past eight years have seen strident accusations of voter fraud and suppression, stemming from the first Bush win in 2000, and continuing claims that Bush was out to overturn the Constitution via a fascist usurpation of power. The relentless attacks on Bush were unceasingly bitter and increasingly vehement. In part this was really about a political strategy adopted by Democrats early on to regain the levers of power in Washington but it took on a life of its own in the anger and resentment that metamorphosed into what came to be known as Bush Derangement Syndrome, a condition not limited to our own shores.
Anti-Bush sentiment became part of the national narrative as the mainstream media took up the baton and carried it for politicians on the Democratic side of the aisle who never ceased smarting over their loss of the White House in 2000. Yet here we are, witness once more to democracy in action as, lo and behold, President Bush prepares to step aside in favor of his duly elected successor.
In the final years of the Bush presidency, events – some the fault of Republicans themselves and some not – conspired to undermine Republican fortunes. Bush gambled his presidency on a war in Iraq he could have passed on, and while he may actually leave office with Iraq largely under control, it will do neither him nor his party much good.
On Bush's watch Republicans in Congress failed to fulfill the charge American voters sent them to Washington with, spending like the Democrats they had replaced. Americans held it against them.
An awkward speaker, burned too often by a hostile media for his public utterances, Bush ultimately forsook the presidential bully pulpit, leaving it to his critics to define the national narrative. When the financial crisis finally hit this September, in the waning days of a seemingly endless presidential campaign, it was the icing on the collapsing Republican cake.
McCain never seemed to stand a chance. And he didn't make things any better by his erratic and all too often awkward performance on the campaign stump. He couldn't run away fast enough from the sitting Republican president while the Democrats' anti-Bush narrative had long since begun to do its corrosive damage.
With Obama's victory, Americans have finished the job they began in the 2006 midterm elections and handed Republicans their walking papers. President-elect Obama was an impressive candidate, despite his minimal experience. Come January, we'll find out just how serious he was when he spoke at Grant Park, promising to heal the nation and unite us again.
The torch now passes to a new president and a new party. All of us, Republicans, Democrats and independents, owe this man our respect and the chance to do what he was elected to do.
About the Author: Stuart W. Mirsky is a Queens-based writer and columnist for several local papers. He is the author of the historical novel "The King of Vinland's Saga," about Vikings and Indians in eleventh-century North America, and "A Raft on the River," the true story of a 15-year-old girl's escape from the Nazis in Poland during World War II.
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My beliefs & actions have led to numerous death threats against me; my excommunication by my church
In November 2014, Islamic Relief Worldwide was classified as a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates.
Too rarely appreciated for its symbolic weight; it can represent freedom and independence.
Erica Pelman is a spiritually-driven woman. She is founder and director of "In Shifra's Arms" (ISA), an organization that offers aid to pregnant Jewish women of all religious backgrounds practically, financially and emotionally. Its arms are open to any pregnant woman in need whether single, divorced, separated, or from a financially-strapped family. "Presently, we are […]
Many so-called "humanitarian NGOs" frequently abuse Israel by applying false moral equivalencies
Israeli history now has its version of "Dewey Defeats Truman" with headlines from 2 anti-Bibi papers
In God's plan why was it necessary that Moses be raised by Pharaoh, away from his own family&people?
In their zechus may we all come to appreciate that life is a fleeting gift and resolve to spend every precious moment of it as if it were the last.
In any event, Mr. Netanyahu after the election sought to soften his statement on Palestinian statehood and apologized for what he conceded were remarks that "offended some Israeli citizens and offended members of the Israeli Arab community."
A worthy idea any way you look at it.
There is something quite distinctive about the biblical approach to time.
The Waqf kept control of the Temple Mount due to Dayan's "magnanimity in victory" after 6 Day war
The event promotes "1 state" solution (end of Israel as a Jewish State), BDS, lawfare against Israel
I rescued you?! You're doing me a favor letting me help you!
The shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, along with federal judge John Roll (a Republican appointee) and numerous others, including a nine year-old constituent of the Congresswoman, resulting in the deaths of six (including the judge and the little girl) and brain injury to the congresswoman, prompted the usual ruminations.
While it's not too early for Republicans to start feeling optimistic, they need to realize this kind of resurgent mood isn't unlike the ebullience of markets bouncing off a bottom. As market pundits like to say, even a dead cat will bounce when it's tossed from a great height. After having fallen so low in public esteem during the last days of the Bush administration, it only makes sense Republicans' spirits would surge at an impending reversal of fortune.
A friend of mine came to this country from China back in the eighties. China had little opportunity for people like him he tells me, especially after Chairman Mao had destroyed the country. To get anywhere you had to know people and pay them off. Everything, he adds, was corrupt and there was no freedom. America looked better and so he emigrated, married and raised a family here.
With the outgoing and endlessly embattled Bush administration showing signs of exhaustion in 2008 and the onslaught of an unforeseen financial crisis, Democrats won the U.S. presidency while gaining an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives and 60 veto-proof seats in the U.S. Senate (thanks, in part, to a disputed Minnesota election putting TV comic Al Franken over the top in his state and the inclusion of Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders and Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman).
It's no secret these days that the Obama administration leans left.
On every crucial issue, from dealing with al Qaeda and the threat of terrorism, to the environment, to health care, to the administration's handling of our overseas adversaries, the president and his advisers have come down hard on the left side of the political divide.
Nearly thirty years ago, this country underwent a paradigm shift when Ronald Reagan swept into the presidency, defeating Jimmy Carter after a single term. Along with Carter, Reagan displaced an entire way of thinking that had informed our politics since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Reagan was a transformative president.
Well, it's finally over – and about time, too. After two years of seemingly endless campaigning and eight of partisan bickering and recriminations, the country appears to have turned a historic corner.
Nothing is certain except death and taxes — but a few things come close. One is that, come November, either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain will emerge as the next president. When that happens we'll be turning the page on eight years of rancorous political partisanship.
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BIO: More states jump into biotech pool
- Ron Leuty
California continues to lead the biotech race, but it shouldn't look back to see who's gaining.
Several states are concentrating on niches within the biotech industry — ranging from wet corn milling to diagnostic imaging centers — in an economic development quest for high-wage jobs, according to a report released Monday at the Biotechnology Industry Organization conference in Chicago.
Battelle, a nonprofit independent research and development organization, prepared the report for BIO.
The report said the average biotech job paid $77,595 a year — more than double the $32,366 average of the total U.S. private sector — and on average each biotech job spins off 5.8 other jobs.
The report is an important marker of economic development initiatives by states to attract and retain biotech companies. That issue is in high relief in San Francisco, where the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to consider whether to extend the city's biotech payroll tax exemption.
The report on California biotech. (250k bytes)
The entire Battelle report on biotech nationwide. (9 megabytes)
Proponents of extending the exemption say it has led to job growth with the addition of new companies and more job opportunities for city residents.
California clearly leads the nation in many biotech metrics: most biotech-related patents (23,162, with second-place Massachusetts with 7,250), academic bioscience R&D expenditures (nearly $4.4 billion, compared to second-place New York at about $2.7 billion) and National Institutes of Health funding ($3.85 billion versus Massachusetts' $2.83 billion).
But Mitch Horowitz, managing director of Battelle's technology partnership practice, said 39 states have a specialization in at least one of four bioscience sub-sectors. "Every state is able to find a niche," he said.
Fifteen regions — areas as diverse as Iowa City, Iowa; Cleveland, Tenn.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; and the Bay Area — have employment concentrations in three of the sub-sectors, Horowitz said.
Overall, the biotech industry employed 1.42 million, growing 1.4 percent while total private-sector employment fell by 0.7 percent. Those figures are from 2008, Horowitz said, so the full impact of the recession on biotech jobs can't be judged through the report.
The drugs and pharmaceuticals sub-sector saw the only decline, according to the report.
"Other states are not as blessed as California. They're trying to bring that over and develop what has been market-driven (in California), so it has to be more private-public partnership driven," Horowitz said.
"Everybody's not going to be California," he added. "That's not what we want. You have to look at what your strengths are."
But a slowing of venture capital investment, federal problems that could wipe away stimulus-related NIH funding gains, state economic woes and little K-12 math and science education funding are concerns could destroy the biotech industry's progress as an economic development engine, Horowitz warned.
"We need to think of new, creative ways of the federal government becoming more partnering with our state and local government," Horowitz said.
Jim Barrett, a general partner with venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates in Chevy Chase, Md., added that other legislation from Congress also could be detrimental to venture investing.
"Those kinds of changes can — not really destroy the industry — but realign the focus away from what the report talks about," Barrett said.
Ron Leuty covers biotechnology for the San Francisco Business Times.
Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com or (415) 288-4939.
Read his blog postings at Bay Area BizTalk.
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Page 1
Insect aquaplaning: Nepenthes pitcher plants capture
prey with the peristome, a fully wettable
water-lubricated anisotropic surface
Holger F. Bohn and Walter Federle*
Zoologie II, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, 97074 Wu ¨rzburg, Germany
Communicated by Bert Ho ¨lldobler, University of Wu ¨rzburg, Wu ¨rzburg, Germany, August 11, 2004 (received for review July 23, 2004)
Pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes have highly specialized
leaves adapted to attract, capture, retain, and digest arthropod
prey. Several mechanisms have been proposed for the capture of
insects, ranging from slippery epicuticular wax crystals to down-
ward-pointing lunate cells and alkaloid secretions that anesthetize
insects. Here we report that perhaps the most important capture
mechanism has thus far remained overlooked. It is based on special
surface properties of the pitcher rim (peristome) and insect ''aqua-
planing.'' The peristome is characterized by a regular microstruc-
ture with radial ridges of smooth overlapping epidermal cells,
which form a series of steps toward the pitcher inside. This surface
is completely wettable by nectar secreted at the inner margin of
the peristome and by rain water, so that homogenous liquid films
cover the surface under humid weather conditions. Only when
wet, the peristome surface is slippery for insects, so that most ant
visitors become trapped. By measuring friction forces of weaver
ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) on the peristome surface of Nepen-
thes bicalcarata, we demonstrate that the two factors preventing
insect attachment to the peristome, i.e., water lubrication and
anisotropic surface topography, are effective against different
attachment structures of the insect tarsus. Peristome water films
disrupt attachment only for the soft adhesive pads but not for the
claws, whereas surface topography leads to anisotropic friction
only for the claws but not for the adhesive pads. Experiments on
Nepenthes alata show that the trapping mechanism of the peris-
tome is also essential in Nepenthes species with waxy inner pitcher
have evolved into organs capable of capturing and digesting
arthropods. Nitrogen derived from digested prey helps these
plants to survive in nutrient-poor habitats. The functional mor-
phology of pitchers and their trapping mechanism has long
attracted the interest of biologists (1–4). It was recognized that
pitchers consist of morphologically distinct zones with different
functions (2, 5). Insects are attracted by extrafloral nectar,
flower fragrance (6), or UV light absorption patterns near the
pitcher opening (6, 7). When visiting the pitchers, insects can fall
into the traps, from which they are mostly unable to escape, and
are digested by enzymes of the pitcher fluid and by the infauna
inhabiting it. The numerous studies on the function of Nepenthes
pitchers have focused on the mechanism of insect attraction (6,
7), on the trapping of insects by alkaloid anesthesia (8), by
slippery epicuticular wax crystals (3, 5, 9, 10) or by downward-
pointing lunate cells (3) of the inner pitcher wall, on the
properties of the glandular zone (11), and on the nature of the
digestive fluid (12–14). Only recently, L. Gaume et al. (15)
conducted the first comprehensive study on the trapping mech-
anism of Nepenthes by comparing the effect of the different
pitcher surface zones and by separating the mechanisms of prey
capture and retention. Observations of insects placed on Ne-
penthes alata pitchers suggested that the inner waxy pitcher wall
is the most important surface zone for the initial capture of
insects (15). These results confirmed earlier observations that
itcher plants of the families Cephalotaceae, Nepenthaceae,
and Sarraceniaceae are famous for conspicuous leaves that
insects are trapped when they step on the waxy zone while
visiting the nectaries on the inner side of the pitcher rim
(peristome) (e.g., refs. 2, 5, 7). The waxy zone of Nepenthes
pitchers is characterized by platelet-shaped aldehyde crystals
protruding perpendicularly from the surface (9). These platelets
not only detach and contaminate the surface of insect adhesive
pads but also appear to interact with the insect's adhesive
secretion to form an amorphous substance that impedes attach-
ment (10).
However, the consensus about the waxy zone as the principal
trapping mechanism in Nepenthes pitchers is impaired by the fact
that in several Nepenthes species (e.g., Nepenthes ampullaria,
Nepenthes bicalcarata, and Nepenthes ventricosa), the waxy zone
is absent. N. ampullaria pitchers were found to accumulate
detritivorous rather than insectivorous (16, 17). However, data
on the prey spectrum and capture efficiency of N. bicalcarata
clearly show that pitchers of this species are fully functional
insect traps despite the absence of a waxy zone (18, 19). Like
many other Nepenthes species, N. bicalcarata captures primarily
ants (18, 20). What is the capture mechanism in this and other
species, where no slippery wax crystal surfaces are present?
Materials and Methods
Field Work. Observations and field experiments on N. bicalcarata
were conducted at various stands in degraded Shorea albida-
dominated peat swamp forests in Brunei, northwest Borneo. We
investigated the trapping mechanism of N. bicalcarata by ob-
serving the behavior of ants on the pitcher surface. Tests were
conducted by using five ant species of different body sizes
belonging to the natural prey spectrum of N. bicalcarata at our
study site [dry weights: Crematogaster inflata, 0.66 ? 0.12 mg;
Camponotus (Colobopsis) sp., 2.4 ? 1.1 mg; Camponotus sp.,
2.9 ? 1.8 mg; Polyrhachis hector, 18.4 ? 6.5 mg; and Polyrhachis
cf. beccarii, 21.0 ? 8.2 mg; means ? SD of n ? 20 workers per
species]. To bring large numbers of ants into contact with N.
bicalcarata pitchers, we collected partial colonies (?50–300
workers) and kept them in plastic containers side-coated with
slippery Fluon (Whitford, Diez) to prevent ants from escaping.
N. bicalcarata pitchers were placed upright on a support inside
ants' behavior for 5–10 min using a video camera [Sony (Tokyo)
DCR-PC120E]. To correct for varying numbers of foraging ants,
we measured trapping efficiency as the number of trapped ants
per ''peristome visits'' (ants with all legs in contact with the
peristome passing the peristome center line were assessed as
peristome visit). In a first set of experiments, we compared the
trapping efficiency of pitchers with natural (dry) and wetted
peristomes using the listed ant species. A more extensive exper-
imental protocol was performed with Oecophylla smaragdina.
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: email@example.com-
© 2004 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
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September 28, 2004 ?
vol. 101 ?
no. 39 www.pnas.org?cgi?doi?10.1073?pnas.0405885101
Page 2
We recorded the ants' behavior on the pitcher (i) with an
untreated (dry) peristome, (ii) after wetting the peristome
surface using an atomizer, (iii) after drying it with dust-free
tissue, and (iv) after rewetting it again.
In a second experiment, we investigated whether ants that
have fallen into N. bicalcarata pitchers are able to escape from
the traps and which parts of the pitcher are responsible for their
retention. Ants were allowed to walk on strips of plastic foil
coated at the tip with Fluon. By gently turning the strip when the
ant was walking on the slippery part, we made the ants fall into
the pitchers from the height of the peristome. Two hundred
twenty-eight ants (30–60 ants of each species) were tested and
observed for 30 min.
Morphology. Fresh pitcher samples from the greenhouse were
frozen in liquid nitrogen and dried overnight in a lyophilizer at
?40°C, sputtered with platinum–palladium for 5 min at 25 mA,
and observed in a Zeiss DSM 962 scanning electron microscope
(working voltage 5–15 kV). To obtain SEM images of ant tarsi
in contact with the peristome (Fig. 3A), we anesthetized O.
smaragdina ants and glued them with melted wax to N. bical-
carata peristomes. Probes of live ants were observed without
sputtering at a working voltage of 3 kV.
Friction of O. smaragdina Ants on the Peristome of N. bicalcarata. We
investigated the effect of peristome wetting and surface topog-
raphy on the performance of claws and adhesive pads. Friction
forces of O. smaragdina ants were measured on the peristome of
N. bicalcarata under variation of peristome wetting and insect
pulling direction. We attached ants to a strain gauge force
transducer via an ?20-cm-long thread tied to the thorax with a
loose loop between the front and middle legs. The ants were
placed on the peristome surface held in horizontal orientation.
Due to the small size of the peristome (which made it difficult
to bring all six legs into contact) and to the possible variation
caused by variable numbers of legs holding onto the surface, we
excised the pretarsi of the ants' front and middle legs. As a
consequence of this treatment, all ants attained the same body
orientation during the experiments (facing toward the thread),
with the two hind legs in contact with the peristome (Fig. 3B).
We slowly moved the peristome surface away from the force
transducer and recorded friction forces until the ant detached.
The detachment force peak was used for further analysis (Fig.
3C). For each ant, measurements were performed under four
different test conditions. These were ''dry'' and ''wetted'' peris-
tome and pulling the ant toward the inside of the pitcher
(''inward'') or toward the outside (''outward''). The order of the
four consecutive measurements (dry inward, wet inward, dry
outward, and wet outward) was randomized. A total of 62
experimental cycles (consisting of four measurements each)
were carried out on 13 ants (three to seven cycles per individual).
Experiments were performed on three groups of ants. Apart
from (i) ants with intact hind legs, we tested (ii) ants with arolia
removed (but intact claws) and (iii) ants with clipped claws (but
intact arolia). Tethering and ablation operations were conducted
on ants anesthetized by CO2, which were allowed to recover for
at least 1 hr before the experiments.
Effect of Peristome in Nepenthes Species with Waxy Inner Pitcher
Walls. To identify the surfaces responsible for insect capture in
Nepenthes species with waxy inner pitcher walls, we conducted
experiments on N. alata pitchers and Messor barbarus ants. We
placed ants individually onto the outer wall of a fresh pitcher
directly below the peristome and observed them for 5 min. To
obtain detailed information on the position of the ants' legs
before falling, we used two high-speed video cameras [Redlake
(San Diego) PCI 1000 B?W], which recorded the peristome and
upper part of the waxy inner wall of the entire pitcher at 50
frames per second. In most cases, the ants were trapped between
the peristome and the waxy zone with their legs standing on both
surfaces. We determined the number of legs in contact with the
peristome and the waxy zone immediately before falling. Cap-
ture events were compared between dry and wetted peristomes
Fig. 1.
the peristome surface. Note the visible line of peristome channels filled with nectar secreted from pores at the inner margin of the peristome (arrow). (C)
Underside of inner margin of peristome with tooth-like projections and nectar pores (arrow). (D and E) Peristome surface with first- and second-order radial
ridges. Arrows indicate direction toward the inside of the pitcher (F) Transverse section of peristome. Note the transition from the digestive zone to the smooth
surface under the peristome (arrow). (G) Inner pitcher wall with digestive gland at the height of the inner peristome margin (H and I) N. alata. (H) Transverse
section of peristome. (I) Waxy inner pitcher wall at the height of the inner peristome margin.
Nepenthes pitcher and peristome morphology. (A–G) N. bicalcarata. (A) Pitcher. (B) Butterfly (probably Tanaecia pelea pelea) harvesting nectar from
Bohn and FederlePNAS ?
September 28, 2004 ?
vol. 101 ?
no. 39 ?
Page 3
on two pitchers with 30 ants for each pitcher and experimental
To evaluate the contribution of the peristome to the total
trapping efficiency in N. alata, we used a pitcher where the left
half of the peristome was dry and the right half was wetted with
water. To prevent water from spreading onto the dry section of
the peristome, we cut a thin vertical gap into the peristome. The
pitcher was brought into contact with a colony compartment
containing ?50 ants and filmed for 160 sec (n ? 7 repetitions).
We determined (i) the absolute number of ants trapped on both
sides of the pitcher and (ii) the number of trapped ants per
peristome visit (defined as all legs being in contact with the
ers has been covered extensively by others (2, 5, 21), only aspects
relevant for this study will be presented here. The edge of the
pitcher mouth (peristome) is a broad collar-shaped structure
(Fig. 1A). In transverse section, it is T-shaped, with both
horizontal arms of the T sloping downward (Fig. 1 F and H). In
N. bicalcarata, the outer arm of the T is short and reflexed,
whereas the inner arm is strongly elongated (?10–20 mm; Fig.
1F), so that the peristome has a long, almost vertical slope
toward the inside of the pitcher (the inner arm is shorter, ?1–5
mm in N. alata; Fig. 1H). The peristome surface has a very
regular microstructure consisting of first- and second-order
radial ridges formed by straight rows of epidermal cells (Fig. 1
D and E). Each epidermal cell overlaps the cell adjacent to the
pitcher inside, so that the surface contains a series of steps
toward the pitcher inside and is anisotropic. The zone adjoining
the peristome toward the pitcher inside is covered with wax
crystals in N. alata (Fig. 1I) but is smooth in N. bicalcarata (Fig.
1G). The glands with hoods characteristic of the digestive zone
(Fig. 1 F and G) indicate that in N. bicalcarata, this zone extends
upward to the level of the peristome, whereas the digestive zone
in N. alata is restricted to the lower part of the pitcher beneath
the waxy zone.
Trapping Function of the Pitcher Peristome in N. bicalcarata. We
discovered the trapping effect of the peristome in the field after
a heavy rainfall. Our initial observations on N. bicalcarata had
seemingly confirmed earlier reports that the trapping of insects
by a Nepenthes pitcher was a rare event witnessed only sporad-
ically (18). However, 1 hr after a heavy afternoon rainfall, we
observed a stand of N. bicalcarata visited by numerous Crema-
togaster ants. In striking contrast to our previous observations,
most of the ants that stepped on the peristome helplessly slipped
on its surface and fell into the pitchers. The large number of ants
still moving inside the digestive fluid or on its surface gave
evidence that large numbers of ants had been captured within a
very short period.
The slippery peristome was completely wetted by rain water;
its surface appeared glossy, and no individual droplets could be
seen. We verified the exceptional wettability of the peristome
surface by placing small water droplets on dry N. bicalcarata
peristomes. The droplets spread out rapidly across the peristome
with a speed of ?20 mm?sec. Spreading was not uniform in all
directions but clearly followed the radial ridges (inward and
outward). Direction-dependent wetting explains the presence of
visible ''nectar lines'' transported from nectaries at the inner
margin of the peristome onto its surface (Fig. 1B).
We tested the effect of peristome wetting in the field by
bringing large numbers of ants into contact with N. bicalcarata
pitchers (Table 1). On untreated dry peristome surfaces, the ants
had no problem walking, and only few workers were trapped by
the pitchers. In all four ant species tested, the wetted peristome
was significantly more effective at capturing ants than the dry
peristome. The wet peristome was so slippery that most (or all)
of the visiting ants fell into the pitchers (Table 1). Only in C.
inflata, 11 ants did not fall into the pitcher directly but slid to the
inner margin of the peristome and were unable to climb out
again. Ultimately, these ants may either fall prey to the pitcher
or may escape once the peristome has dried and is less slippery
again. The results of a more extensive field experiment con-
ducted with O. smaragdina, which included drying and rewetting
the peristome, show the same effect (Fig. 2A). After the peris-
tome was wiped dry, its surface was no longer slippery. Subse-
quent rewetting of the peristome completely restored its slip-
periness (Fig. 2A).
Retention of Insect Prey. Fig. 2B shows that ant species differed
strongly in their capacity to escape from N. bicalcarata pitchers
(escaped vs. not escaped: ?2? 89.0, df ? 4, P ? 0.001; drowned
Fig. 2.
peristome wetting, drying, and rewetting on the capture efficiency in N.
bicalcarata pitchers; O. smaragdina ants. (B) Retention of prey ants in N.
bicalcarata pitchers. Data show the condition of ants 30 min after being
dropped into the pitcher. Ci, C. inflata; Cc, Camponotus (Colobopsis) sp.; Cs,
Camponotus sp.; Ph, P. hector; Pb, Polyrhachis cf. beccarii.
Initial capture and prey retention in N. bicalcarata. (A) Effect of
Table 1. Effect of peristome wetting on the trapping efficiency
in N. bicalcarata
Ant species
Peristome condition
Natural (dry),
C. inflata
Camponotus (Colobopsis) sp.
O. smaragdina
Polyrhachis cf. beccarii
P values give Fisher's exact test statistics. Ants with all legs in peristome
14140 ?
www.pnas.org?cgi?doi?10.1073?pnas.0405885101Bohn and Federle
Page 4
vs. not drowned; ?2? 38.3, df ? 4, P ? 0.001). Retention was
based on different mechanisms, depending on the ant species.
When falling into the pitcher fluid, most of the small C. inflata
(and some Camponotus spp.) remained stuck to the fluid me-
to get a grip on the pitcher wall. In contrast, most of the larger
ants passed the surface film upon falling. Once submerged in the
fluid, most ants failed to escape and stopped moving after ?60
was Polyrhachis cf. beccarii, which showed coordinated under-
water swimming movements. They mostly managed to hold onto
the pitcher surface, walk out of the digestive fluid, and climb up
the inner pitcher wall. However, they did have great difficulty
leaving the pitcher across the peristome. Seventy-three percent
of the ants needed more than one attempt (median 2.5 attempts)
to overcome the peristome. In one particularly dramatic case, a
P. beccarii worker fell back into the fluid 48 times before it finally
managed to escape from the pitcher. The difficulty of passing the
peristome was apparently enhanced by the fact that these ants
carried digestive fluid adhering to their body, which visibly
wetted the peristome once they tried to step on it and made it
more slippery.
Friction of O. smaragdina Ants on the Peristome of N. bicalcarata. We
investigated the effects of peristome wetting and surface anisot-
ropy on the performance of insect claws and adhesive pads by
measuring friction forces of O. smaragdina ants on the N.
bicalcarata peristome (Fig. 3). In ants with intact tarsi, friction
mainly depended on peristome wetting. Pads slid and generated
only minute friction forces on the wetted peristome (Fig. 3D and
Table 2). When the peristome was dry, friction forces were
generally large and did not significantly depend on pulling
direction (Fig. 3D and Table 3). On the wetted peristome,
however, the overall smaller forces were significantly lower when
ants were pulled toward the inside of the pitcher (Fig. 3D and
Table 3).
Ablation experiments on the tarsi of O. smaragdina demonstrate
that the two experimental factors, i.e., peristome wetting and
pulling direction, have very different effects on the attachment
Table 2. Statistics of the effects of peristome wetting on friction
force in O. smaragdina (Wilcoxon's signed rank tests; Bonferroni
correction applied for multiple testing; Pcorrected? 4 ? P)
No arolium
No arolium
No claws
No claws
Table 3. Statistics of the effects of pulling direction on friction
force in O. smaragdina (Wilcoxon's signed rank tests; Bonferroni
correction applied for multiple testing; Pcorrected? 4 ? P)
TarsusPeristome condition
No arolium
No arolium
No claws
No claws
Fig. 3.
boxes mark the inner two quartiles, and whiskers mark the maxima and minima.
Friction forces of O. smaragdina ants on the peristome of N. bicalcarata pitchers. (A) O. smaragdina tarsus on the peristome of N. bicalcarata; SEM of
Bohn and FederlePNAS ?
September 28, 2004 ?
vol. 101 ?
no. 39 ?
Page 5
structures of the tarsus (claws and arolium). The strong effect of
peristome wetting was equally present in ants with clipped claws
(Fig. 3F) but almost absent (and not significant) in ants where the
arolia had been removed (Fig. 3E and Table 2). This shows that
peristome wetting primarily impedes attachment of the arolium. In
contrast, pulling direction had a significant effect when forces due
in the direction toward the outside of the pitcher are probably due
to interlocking of the claws with the surface profile. The weaker
significance of pulling direction in the claw-amputated tarsi on the
wet peristome (Fig. 3F and Table 3) indicates that also other parts
to anisotropic friction.
Effect of Peristome in Nepenthes Species with Waxy Inner Pitcher
Walls. We investigated which surfaces are responsible for insect
capture in a Nepenthes species with waxy inner pitcher walls, N.
alata. Table 4 compares the results for N. alata with dry vs.
wetted peristome. Due to the relatively long observation times,
most of the M. barbarus ants investigated were trapped in this
experiment (capture efficiency was greater for the wet peris-
tome, but the difference was marginally nonsignificant; Fisher's
exact test: P ? 0.066). However, the trapping mechanism dif-
fered between the dry and wet conditions of the peristome. The
number of legs in contact with the waxy surface before capture
was significantly smaller when the peristome was wet (Mann–
Whitney test: U ? 75.5, P ? 0.001). When the peristome was dry,
most of the ants fell into the pitchers when they were holding
onto the peristome with only one leg (median ? one leg on the
peristome). On the wetted peristome, 50% of the ants slipped
into the pitcher without even touching the wax (median ? 5.5
legs on the peristome).
To evaluate the contribution of the peristome to the general
trapping efficiency in N. alata, ants were released on a pitcher
where 50% of the peristome was dry and 50% wet. On the wetted
side of the peristome, 60 of 73 visitors (82%) were trapped,
whereas on the dry peristome half, only 24 of 99 visiting ants
(24%) fell into the pitcher. The absolute number of ants trapped
on the dry and wet side of the pitcher differed significantly from
a random distribution (?2? 15.4, df ? 1, P ? 0.001). This
difference was clearly not due to a lower number of ants visiting
the dry side of the pitcher. When considering not the absolute
numbers but the proportion of peristome visitors that were
trapped, the increase of pitcher capture rate for the wet peris-
tome was also highly significant (?2? 56.5, df ? 1, P ? 0.001).
Our study shows that N. bicalcarata pitchers capture insects with
the help of their slippery peristome. We discovered that when
wet, its surface is extremely slippery, so that most insects
stepping on the peristome fall prey, whereas virtually no insects
are captured when the peristome is dry.
Despite the century-long interest in Nepenthes pitcher plants
and their trapping mechanism, the effective trapping function of
the peristome reported in this study has thus far remained
unnoticed. Based on morphological structure and supposed
function, Hooker (22) divided the inside of the pitcher into an
''attractive'' zone, which included the lid and the peristome, a
''conductive'' (waxy part of inner wall) and a ''digestive'' zone
(lower part of the pitcher). Later authors also did not consider
the peristome to be directly involved in the trapping mechanism.
Lloyd (2) noticed that the peristome surface is ''. . . not slippery
(. . . ), for as a matter of observation, small insects (ants, etc.) can
walk freely on it, using their footpads.'' Juniper and Burras (23)
remarked that ''. . . ants seem to be able to walk about freely on
a serious obstacle to the escape of all types of insects.'' Moran
et al. (7) noted that ''. . . the peristome appears to offer a secure
foothold for most visiting invertebrates.'' Only Juniper and
Burras (23) hypothesized that the peristome may be a ''precar-
ious foothold'' for some insects due to its smoothness. However,
the smoothness of a surface by itself is no problem for insects
equipped with tarsal adhesive pads. Many insects are able to
cope with detachment forces of ?100 times their own body
weight on perfectly smooth substrates (24, 25).
The mechanism of peristome slipperiness is based on the pres-
surface of the peristome. The peristome surface contains micro-
scopic cavities between overlapping epidermal cells that may be in
the appropriate size range to provide anchorage for insect claws
(26) but only in the direction toward the outside of the pitcher.
Apart from claws, many insects possess adhesive pads that are used
on smooth surfaces where the claws fail. The analysis of friction
forces of O. smaragdina ants on the peristome surprisingly revealed
adhesive pads. However, when only claws were present, friction
forces were smaller toward the inside of the pitcher but larger
toward the outside, as expected from surface topography. In
for the adhesive pads. We assume that slipperiness of the wet
peristome is caused by aquaplaning, i.e., by the lubricating effect of
a water or nectar film between adhesive pads and the peristome
surface. On a smooth surface, insect adhesive pads can generate
large friction forces if their soft cuticle either comes into very close
contact or directly interacts with the substrate (27). If the surface
is covered with fluid, adhesive pads can make contact only by
the fluid's viscosity. The stability of a very thin liquid film inter-
tendency to dewet and to establish dry adhesive contacts (28).
solid?liquid, and liquid?adherend interfacial tensions, respectively.
Lubrication is enhanced if S is positive (liquid film stable) or
negative and small [slow dewetting (29)], both of which are facili-
tated if the substrate is well wettable (small ?SL).
Wettability is also the fundamental prerequisite for the for-
mation of homogenous water or nectar films on the peristome.
Table 4. Surfaces responsible for the capture of ants in N. alata with a dry or wetted
peristome (5-min observations of M. barbarus ants placed individually on the pitchers)
Fallen from
Peristome?wax (no.
legs on peristome)
Wax only
No peristome
14142 ?
www.pnas.org?cgi?doi?10.1073?pnas.0405885101Bohn and Federle
Page 6
Complete wettability is uncommon among plant leaf surfaces
(30). Epicuticular surface lipids are hydrophobic and typically
give rise to water contact angles ?90°. When hydrophobicity is
combined with surface roughness (as is the case in epicuticular
wax crystal surfaces), plant surfaces can be superhydrophobic
with contact angles as large as 170° (e.g., ref. 31). If a material
is hydrophilic with Young contact angles ?90°, however, surface
roughness has an inverse effect and increases wettability (32).
We assume that the corrugations of the peristome surface are
necessary for its complete wettability, which in turn enhances the
peristome trapping function.
There are several possible mechanisms of how Nepenthes peris-
tomes become wetted under natural conditions: (i) rain, (ii) con-
densation, and (iii) nectar secretion. Even though the pitcher lid
it usually does not completely shield the peristome from rain. N.
rainfalls. Due to its strong wettability, the peristome surface may
also be an area where dew can condensate at air humidities very
close to 100%. Last, nectar secreted from the large peristome
nectaries can form fluid films (Fig. 1B). The location of the pores
of these nectaries between the tooth-like projections at the inner
margin of the peristome (Fig. 1C) is ideal for spreading the nectar
and the time course of nectar production have not been quantified,
unclear. The presence of nectar (instead of pure water) on the
peristome surface, apart from being attractive to insects, may have
implications for peristome slipperiness. First, sugar remaining on
the surface after nectar evaporation may be hygroscopic and could
facilitate condensation. Second, nectar is more viscous than pure
even more slippery.
The mechanism of peristome slipperiness in Nepenthes pitchers
mechanism of peristome wetting, it can be predicted that there is
strong temporal variation of trapping efficiency. In most Nepenthes
species, including N. bicalcarata, ants dominate the prey spectrum
(7, 20). It has been hypothesized that when pitcher plants capture
ants, generally low capture rates are beneficial, because surviving
scouts can recruit more nestmates to the pitcher's nectar resources
(20, 34). Our findings show that the capture efficiency of Nepenthes
pitchers is temporarily high due to the presence of water films on
the peristome but low when it is dry. As a consequence, ant
recruitment to pitcher nectar will operate effectively while the
peristome is dry, but large groups of recruited ants may become
trapped when the peristome is slippery. Slipperiness of the peris-
tome not only varies temporarily but may also be unpredictable for
the arriving ants. Temporal separation of ant recruitment and prey
capture could represent a strategy for capturing ants superior to a
efficiency will vary according to daytime and weather conditions.
Nectar secretion and temperature-induced condensation may ex-
hibit daytime-dependent maxima. Peristome wetting by rain may
result in higher capture rates during rainy seasons, which may
profitably coincide with periods of enhanced growth and greater
demand of nutrients.
Our findings demonstrate that the trapping mechanism of the
peristome is not restricted to N. bicalcarata but is also important in
other Nepenthes species with waxy inner pitcher walls such as N.
alata. Only when the peristome was dry was the waxy surface of N.
alata the most important trapping zone, consistent with previous
observations (presumably made on dry peristomes; refs. 2, 5, and
15). When the peristome was wet, however, most ants slipped into
the pitcher from the peristome, often without even touching the
waxy surface. Most importantly, wetting of the peristome resulted
in a ?3-fold increase of the capture rate. Thus, even though the
peristome is wetted only temporarily, its contribution to the overall
of the waxy zone could lie more in the retention of insects, which
appears to be less effective in the wax-free N. bicalcarata pitchers
(see Fig. 2B and ref. 15). Further work is needed to investigate the
relative importance of different trapping mechanisms (waxy walls
vs. peristome) under field conditions.
N. bicalcarata is an exceptional member of the genus Nepenthes
because of its myrmecophytic association with the ant Camponotus
schmitzi Sta ¨rke (35). These specialized ants nest in the swollen
hollow pitcher tendrils of their host plant. Apart from harvesting
extrafloral nectar, C. schmitzi feed on large prey items captured by
their host plant, which they transport out of the pitcher fluid (19).
In striking contrast to other ants, C. schmitzi ants are capable not
only of swimming and diving through the digestive pitcher fluid but
also of running across wet slippery peristomes; they never become
trapped in the pitchers. We are currently investigating the proxi-
mate mechanisms of these fascinating adaptations.
We acknowledge David Marshall (Universiti Brunei Darussalam), Marlis
and Dennis Merbach, Ulrich Maschwitz (J. W. Goethe University, Frank-
furt am Main), and Reinhard Jetter (University of British Columbia,
Vancouver) for help in the field and fruitful discussions. We are indebted
to the staff of the Botanical Garden in Wu ¨rzburg and the Palmengarten in
Frankfurt am Main. The Universiti Brunei Darussalam, the Brunei Mu-
seum, and the Department of Forestry of Brunei are gratefully acknowl-
edged for permission to conduct field work. This study was financially
supported by research grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(SFB 567?C6 and Emmy–Noether fellowship FE 547?1–2 to W.F.).
1. Darwin, C. (1875) Insectivorous Plants (Appleton, London).
2. Lloyd, F. E. (1942) The Carnivorous Plants (Ronald Press, New York).
3. Knoll, F. (1914) Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 54, 448–497.
4. Adams, R. M. & Smith, G. W. (1977) Am. J. Bot. 64, 265–272.
5. Juniper, B. E., Robins, R. J. & Joel, D. M. (1989) The Carnivorous Plants
(Academic, London).
6. Moran, J. A. (1996) J. Ecol. 84, 515–525.
7. Moran, J. A., Booth, W. E. & Charles, J. K. (1999) Ann. Bot. 83, 521–528.
8. Ratsirarson, J. & Silander, J. A. (1996) Biotropica 28, 218–227.
9. Riedel, M., Eichner, A. & Jetter, R. (2003) Planta 218, 87–97.
10. Gaume, L., Perret, P., Gorb, E., Gorb, S., Labat, J.-J. & Rowe, N. (2004)
Arthropod. Struct. Dev. 33, 103–111.
11. Gorb, E. V. (2004) Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 137, S82–S83.
12. Hepburn, J. S. (1918) Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 57, 112–129.
13. Amagase, S. (1972) J. Biochem. 72, 765–767.
14. Toke ´s, Z. A. (1974) Planta 119, 39–46.
15. Gaume, L., Gorb, S. & Rowe, N. (2002) New Phytol. 156, 479–489.
16. Cresswell, J. E. (1998) Oecologia 113, 383–390.
17. Moran, J. A., Clarke, C. M. & Hawkins, B. J. (2003) Int. J. Plant Sci. 164, 635–639.
18. Merbach, M. A., Zizka, G., Fiala, B., Maschwitz, U. & Booth, W. E. (2001)
Flora 196, 153–160.
19. Clarke, C. M. & Kitching, R. L. (1995) J. Trop. Ecol. 11, 589–602.
20. Clarke, C. & Wong, K. M. (1997) Nepenthes of Borneo (Natural History
Publications, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia).
21. Owen, T. P. & Lennon, K. A. (1999) Am. J. Bot. 86, 1382–1390.
22. Hooker, J. D. (1859) Trans. Linn. Soc. 22, 415–424.
23. Juniper, B. E. & Burras, J. K. (1962) New Sci. 13, 75–77.
24. Eisner, T. & Aneshansley, D. J. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 6568–6573.
25. Federle, W., Rohrseitz, K. & Ho ¨lldobler, B. (2000) J. Exp. Biol. 203, 505–512.
26. Dai, Z., Gorb, S. N. & Schwarz, U. (2002) J. Exp. Biol. 205, 2479–2488.
27. Federle, W., Baumgartner, W. & Ho ¨lldobler, B. (2004) J. Exp. Biol. 207, 67–74.
28. Martin, A., Buguin, A. & Brochard-Wyart, F. (2001) Langmuir 17, 6553–6559.
29. Martin, P. & Brochard-Wyart, F. (1998) Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 3296–3299.
30. Juniper, B. E. & Jeffree, C. E. (1983) Plant Surfaces (Edward Arnold, London).
31. Holloway, P. J. (1969) J. Sci. Food Agric. 20, 124–128.
32. Bico, J., Thiele, U. & Que ´re ´, D. (2002) Colloids Surfaces A 206, 41–46.
33. Wolf,A.V.,Brown,M.G.&Prentiss,P.G.(1984)inCRCHandbookofChemistry
and Physics, ed. Weast, R. C. (CRC, Boca Raton, FL), pp. D223–D272.
34. Joel, D. M. (1988) Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 35, 185–197.
35. Schuitemaker, J. P. & Staercke, A. (1933) Overdr. Natuurhist. Maandbl. 22,
Bohn and Federle PNAS ?
September 28, 2004 ?
vol. 101 ?
no. 39 ?


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About the Weekly Local Produce Box -For $25, customers can purchase a share of local produce from our network of farmers in Louisiana & southern Mississippi. The produce in the box is a mix
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Check out the trailer for Michael Hoffman's "Gambit," from a script by the Coen Brothers and starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman and Stanley Tucci. This is an update of the original 1966 crime comedy starring the incomparable Shirley MacLaine. Looks like Firth has adopted ...Read More »
"Coen Brothers Week!" continues at Trailers from Hell, today with screenwriter Josh Olson introducing the brothers' brilliant neo-gangster-noir tale of Prohibition-era heavies, featuring a shockingly bad-ass Albert Finney and an elegantly wind-blustered fedora.Read More »
Over the course of her brief career, Jennifer Lawrence has fended off meth addicts, morphed into a sexy blue-skinned seductress and weilded a bow and arrow with aplomb. Now with the release of her first foray into horror, "House at the End of the Street" (opening wide September 21), the Os...Read More »
"Mutants, Ghosts & Devils!" week concludes at Trailers from Hell with director David DeCoteau introducing Brit director Robert Fuest's "The Devil's Rain," a critical turkey with a "protracted liquid climax."Read More »
Check out Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in "Mama," presented by Guillermo del Toro. From writer-director Andres Muschietti (and based on his own Spanish short film), it looks to be pretty standard horror-thriller fare, complete with creepy little girls and awful haircuts for now-better-...Read More »
"Mutants, Ghosts and Devils!" week continues at Trailers from Hell, today with writer Mick Garris introducing "Ghost Story," a big-budget adaptation of the Peter Straub chiller that never made the blockbuster cut due to the "geriatric nature of the cast" (including an 82-year-old Fred Astaire).Read More »
The latest from Andrea Arnold, the director behind "Wasp," "Red Road" and "Fish Tank," is an unexpected take on Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights." As with her previous works, the film is visceral and naturalistic, with Robbie Ryan providing startlingly gorgeous and effective cinematography that pro...Read More »
Remember when trailers merely appeared on TV screens and in front of movies at the theater? Those days are long gone. Now trailers get premieres of their own. It should thus come as no surprise that the trailer for Steven Spielberg's hotly-anticipated "Lincoln" will debut at an epic scale, being liv...Read More »
HBO has released a chilling full trailer for The Girl starring Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren and Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Gwyneth Hughes, The Girl looks at Hedren and Hitchcock's on-set relationship during the filming of The Birds. As we reported, during the HBO TCA panel for t...Read More »
A trailer has surfaced for the Swing-era feature documentary The Savoy King: Chick Webb & The Music That Changed America, which screens at the New York Film Festival starting this month.Read More »


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Film Review: Nurse 3D (2013)
SYNOPSIS: By day Abby Russell is a dedicated nurse, someone you wouldn't hesitate to trust your life with. But by night, her real work begins…using her smoldering sexuality she lures cheating men to their brutal deaths and exposes them for who they really are. When a younger nurse starts to suspect Abby's actions and compromises her master plan, Abby must find a way to outsmart her long enough to bring the cheater you'd least expect … Continue reading
Film Review: Cheap Thrills (2014)
SYNOPSIS: A scheming couple put a struggling family man and his old friend through a series of increasingly twisted dares over the course of an evening at a local bar. REVIEW: Echoing classic episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents & Tales From The Crypt, director E.L. Katz' black comedy Cheap Thrills is a nasty little thriller that serves as a spotlight of sorts on the nature of greed, competition & the depths of human depravity. Considering … Continue reading
Film Review: The Dinosaur Experiment (2014)
SYNOPSIS: Fossil Ridge, once believed to be a cattle ranch is discovered to be a breeding ground for vicious prehistoric velociraptors. When the bloodthirsty dinosaurs escape, the townspeople must fight to survive the deadly raptors. REVIEW: I'm not too sure what's going on here but The Dinosaur Experiment was released late last year as Raptor Ranch and that's about the only thing that's changed about it since I refuse to believe that anything on display … Continue reading
Film Review: PMS Cop (2014)
SYNOPSIS: Mary, a police officer, is forced into an evil pharmaceutical company's drug trial for a PMS inhibitor known as Corybantic after being caught on television beating a rapist. After a tragic event Mary suffers a horrific side effect, and with her new found superhuman strength, she begins to systematically take out her vengeance on everyone in her path! Will Mary fight against her inner urge to destroy or could she become the first of … Continue reading
Interview: Peta Sergeant (Patrick: Evil Awakens)
Actress Peta Sergeant is best known for her roles in films like The Bet (2006) & Iron Sky (2012). She's also appeared on TV in shows like The Originals (as Francesca) & Once Upon A Time In Wonderland (as the Jabberwock). She also wrote/directed a well regarded short film in 2010 called Litost. Her latest film appearance is as Nurse Williams in director Mark Hartley's entertaining revamp of the Ozploitation classic, Patrick (1978) called Patrick: … Continue reading
Film Review: Kill That Bitch (2014)
SYNOPSIS: A masked man is mercilessly torturing and murdering women. But who is he? Why is he doing this and can he be stopped? REVIEW: It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Dustin Wayde Mills and his films, as a matter of fact I think the guy is something of a genius. In films like The Puppet Monster Massacre (2010), Zombie A-Hole (2012), Night Of The Tentacles (2013), Easter Casket (2013) & Skinless … Continue reading
Film Review: 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
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Film Review: Patrick: Evil Awakens (2014)
SYNOPSIS: A young nurse takes a new job at a secluded psychiatric ward where she meets Patrick, a comatose young man. He takes a special interest in her despite the fact that he's in a coma and using the power of telekinesis he begins to eliminate all of the men in her life. REVIEW: Although I'm not a proponent of remakes I reckon that the science behind remaking films is an odd one. I wonder … Continue reading
Film Review: Rewind This! (2013)
SYNOPSIS: Home video changed the world. The cultural and historical impact of the VHS tape was enormous. This film traces the ripples of that impact by examining the myriad aspects of society that were altered by the creation of videotape. REVIEW: Way back in the late 80's I was an employee at (what was then) the biggest video rental/purchase store in NYC – RKO Video. Located on the corner of 49th & Broadway, it was … Continue reading
Film Review: Bloodlust (1961) Review 2
SYNOPSIS: A crazed hunter kidnaps people and turns them loose on his private estate, where he hunts them for sport. REVIEW: I'm pretty sure that no one involved in the production of "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932) ever thought that it was going to be as influential a film as it turned out to be. Why influential? Because it's been remade thematically at least eight times that I can think of: Hard Target (1993), Surviving … Continue reading
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SYNOPSIS: A masked vigilante who suddenly discovers the dark side to heroism. Going after the nation's most notorious super criminal leaves Sparks' life and reputation in ruins. REVIEW: In this day and age the idea of producing a superhero film for anything less than $150-200 million dollars is laughable. With blockbusters like "The Avengers", "Man Of Steel" & "Iron Man 3" sporting mega budgets (& making mega profits), it's hard to imagine anyone trying to … Continue reading
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SYNOPSIS: Below the streets of New York is a dark and dangerous world hidden in the shadows of abandoned subway tunnels and miles of forgotten infrastructure. When a young documentary filmmaker goes into these tunnels to uncover the unseen stories of the people living below our feet, she finds out that there is more to be afraid of than the dark. A mysterious figure, living beyond the reach of the law, has declared war on … Continue reading
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SYNOPSIS: Bobby's mother reads two spooky tales to the ghost of her dead son. The first tells of a family and their food shortage issues. The second story features a zombie clown from Hell. When we finally return to Shirley, she kills her hot-headed boyfriend, and there's a bloody finale as the cops arrive. REVIEW: The legend of Chester Novell Turner is a strange & compelling one indeed. Way…WAY back in 1984 he came upon … Continue reading
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SYNOPSIS: A couple's son and daughter inexplicably reappear after being lost overnight on a desolate, cave-riddled mountainside. Becoming withdrawn and beginning to exhibit strange behavior, their parents quickly assume something sinister happened to them while missing and alone. But after hearing an ominous local legend… the concerned mother and father begin to realize that their children may have fallen prey to something inhuman – and that this dark, unstoppable evil has now returned home … Continue reading
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SYNOPSIS: A woman develops an interest in her friend Brandon's Ouija Board when he brings it by her party. She becomes obsessed with it and accidentally unleashes an evil spirit that wants to possess her body. REVIEW: Back in 1986 a gallon of gas cost about $.93, a dozen eggs cost $.87 and Ronald Reagan was president. The average price of a movie ticket was $3.71 and you could use those shekels to see movies … Continue reading
Film Review: Devil's Due (2014)
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In New York City the streets are buzzing with questions about mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner and comptroller candidate Eliot Spitzer, who both face questions about returning to office after being embroiled in sex scandals during their previous tenures. This pair has been making headlines all summer. "The bad boys," as they are being referred to, are seeking the public's forgiveness as they bid for...
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FCC Wants Net Neutrality Suits Stopped 108
from the you-bet-they-do dept.
We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).
The FCC loses... because the FCC *always* loses. They've lost every major case for the last fifteen years.
They need to hire one of those lawyers on TV. They seem to win their cases every week no matter how stupid their clients are.
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Playing the lottery pours millions into the state coffers–about $830 million this year alone. But it's not all good news. As competition from casinos grows, lottery revenues are down.


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text:
My daughter simply does not "cry it out." She will scream until she is blood red & can't breathe. If you don't pick her up and cuddle her, she gets louder and louder, and yes. Even LOUDER! I don't understand how a 2 1/2 month old can scream like this! Any tips?
Cry It Out?
Tara and Jim
Part-time physician assistant and full-time mom to Brielle Patricia 3/17/10 and Isla Judith 9/19/12
from your other post it seems the delivery was traumatic, i've read were in cases as such sometimes a chripractor visit for baby can be a huge help! have you tried that?
Baby girl 1/27/10
Baby boy 9/18/12
Happy Mommy
No, picking her up works sometimes. But what I mean by this post is; should I let her cry it out? Because, even when I'm holding her 9/10 times she will not stop crying. No matter what I do, she's blood red screaming. She doesn;t sleep, she even cries when she eats! I've heard of this chiropractor deal, but my uncle is one and he says once you start going you have to keep going & he's uncomfortable adjusting infants because it can cause nerve & joint damage.
Nothing is more powerful, than a mother's love.
This one says, "I'm going commando. I don't really get it, but I do support the military. Sue Heck
She is a wee bit young to let her CIO to teach her to self-sooth. Letting her CIO at this age teaches her you aren't there for her and just makes her sleep from exhaustion.
Unyque name?
Custom wire name Christmas ornaments - Colorfully Twisted
But what I mean by this post is; should I let her cry it out?
Absolutely not. Trust me, I know how you feel. My dd had colic and screamed bloody murder ALL DAY/NIGHT. But I did what I could and just held her and rocked her. Sometimes that helped and sometimes it didn't. I put her in our Moby wrap and sometimes it helped but I never let her CIO....even if while holding her, she still screamed. So NO CIO at this age...sorry.
And again people, there is a difference between CIO and letting a baby fuss while you go to the bathroom, deal with another kid, cook etc. Big difference. CIO is you letting your baby cry to teach her/him to self soothe or some other ridiculous notion.
Babies learn through cries, trust. If you can't make them happy and you've tried it all, they develop trust and comfort with you as a provider and guardian when you hold them IN SPITE of it not working. When games of cry til I'm held, then i stop, happen it is STILL teaching trust and comfort and reliability if you hold them.
Cio is most beneneficial imo when they're about 18-24 months and they are crying because they don't want to do what you want them to. Then cio techniques are beneficial if done correct.
Some agree with 6 month cio but I wait til walking over 1 personally.
And side note, baby crying as you poop, not cio.
Baby crying as you answer the door, not cio.
And yes, crunchesice and I both have been known to poop and hold and or nurse on the pot. But we are like that with our kids lol!


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