Pitcher plants are carnivores that rely on insects for nourishment. One species of the plant, found in Southeast Asia, uses raindrops to trap prey in its fluid-filled pitcher, a new study reports. Writing in the journal PLoS One, researchers describe how the species Nepenthes gracilis has a springboardlike mechanism built into its lid.

Insects seek shelter from rain on the underside of the plant’s lid. Then, when raindrops hit the top of the lid, the insects are flung into the pitcher, said Ulrike Bauer, a biologist at the University of Cambridge in England and the study’s first author.