Loved the whole of it, but especially the 'why care' section, as you're spot on on everything you say there even though it's more subjective than the rest of the article.
While reading I too was thinking a pitcher is like a lake. And also like a mammal's digestive system but maybe without all the drama, although flies do leave our mouths in bulk too sometimes, e.g. in Mummy movies.
Oh and that crab...it's basically occupying the whole niche! It made a glorified seashell out of that pitcher!
I really enjoy writing the 'why care' style sections. In fact, while it's not a deliberate criteria, I think I usually hold off on writing about a topic until I have some idea of how to answer that question. I'm glad you especially liked it.
It's very much like those systems, biologically they're all 'islands' and island biogeography is one major interest of mine.
Yeah, the crab is ridiculous. Some of its close cousins look really cool and are apparently neat pets, too.