A network of video cameras was used to monitor a parasitic plant, Mitrastemon kanehirai,
for 24 h a day with every 30 min per image from the beginning of scale-leaf development, to the
flower-blooming, fruiting, and seed-dispersal stages. The purposes of this study were, by analyzing
captured images, to understand the timespan of the reproductive period and identify visiting animals
to M. kanehirai in the Lienhuachih forest, central Taiwan. The research achievements may make
up for shortages of manpower and survey times, and be used as a reference for conservation and
restoration of M. kanehirai. In this study, 5240 images taken from 1 October, 2014 to 3 February,
2015 were analyzed. Results showed that the dates and average times of the stages of scale-leaf
development, androecium, gynoecium, fruiting, and seed dispersal were 1 October~13 November.
(40.6±2.4 d), 7~22 November (7.4±1.8 d), 14~30 November (6.5±2.0 d), 20 November~16
January (29.6±10.9 d) and 21 December~3 Febuary (11.3±6.7 d), respectively. Percentages
of visiting animals in each stage of M. kanehirai were: 3.82% (the lowest) for the scale-leaf
development stage, and 4.89, 19.96, 20.55, and 50.78% (the highest) for the androecium stage,
fruiting stage, gynoecium stage, and seed-dispersal stage, respectively. This might have been affected
by the secretion of nectar and odor from M. kanehirai. Visiting animals of M. kanehirai
were 45.70% at night (19:00~04:00), 24.36% during daytime (07:00~16:00), 19.24% in the late
evening (16:00~19:00), and 10.71% for early morning (04:00~07:00), respectively. Our results
suggested that using a monitoring network can precisely monitor the phenology of reproduction
and animals visiting M. kanehirai. Moreover, spiders, toads, and the Tenebrionidae are new records
visiting M. kanehirai.