But not all visitors have a fatal attraction to the pitchers. The red crab spider spends its entire life in the pitchers, hanging on with threads of silk. Instead of building a web, it relies on the water filled pitcher to trap its food. When an ant falls in, the spider simply waits for it to drown and then abseils down for a spot of fishing. Alive, this ant would be far too dangerous for the spider to tackle, so using the pitchers as traps, means it can get bigger meals. And the spider doesn't rob the pitcher of everything. The digested remains of its booty will end up in the water providing instant food for the plant. Other food, like mosquito larvae, seems to be out of reach but the spider has another surprising trick. By taking its own air supply trapped in a bubble the crab spider can actually dive to the very bottom of the pitcher. Once the prey is captured, the spider hauls itself back up its silken safety line.


但并不是被吸引到猪笼草中的昆虫都会丧命。红花蛛整个一生都在猪笼草中度过，它利用丝线悬挂在笼子里。红花蛛不是靠结网捕捉昆虫，而是靠装了水的笼子获取食物。如果一只蚂蚁掉入笼底，蜘蛛等在那里让蚂蚁淹死——然后绕绳降下把它捞起来。如果这是只活蚂蚁，它可能太危险，蜘蛛未必能把它制服，所以把笼子当作陷阱这意味着它能得到大份的美餐。蜘蛛并不是把笼子里的东西全部据为己有，它吃剩的部分都留在笼底的水里，成为猪笼草的快餐。其他食物，例如蚊子幼虫孑孓，似乎只能令红花蛛望洋兴叹。其实不然，对此它也有惊人的高招。它利用气泡内的空气，潜入笼底捕捉。一旦把猎物捕获，红花蛛利用蛛丝保险绳把自己拽上来。