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Carnivorous Plants
Transcript
Carnivorous plants use the sneakiest of tricks to trap their insect dinners. Take bladderworts, for example. They appear so small and delicate growing in a quiet pond. But these are the fastest-known killers of the plant kingdom, able to suck in unsuspecting mosquito larvae in 1/50th of a second using a trap door!
Once the trap door closes on the victim, digestive enzymes similar to those in the human stomach slowly consume the insect. When dinner is over, the plant ejects the remains and is ready to trap again.
Carnivorous plants grow in places with soil that doesn't offer much food value. You and I could take a vitamin pill. However, these amazing plants have had to adapt over thousands of years, developing insect traps to get their nutritional needs met. Just look at all they've done in the fight to survive."
The traps can be well-disguised to fool the eye, like pitcher plants, which get their name because they look like beautiful pitchers full of nectar.
The Asian pitcher plant, for example, has a brightly colored rim and an enticing half-closed lid. Curious insects are tempted to come close and take a sip, then slide down the slippery slope to their deaths.
Hair-like growths along the pitcher walls ensure that nothing can scramble out, and the digestive enzymes can get to work. A tiny insect called a midge might be digested in a few hours, but a fly takes a couple of days.
The Venus flytrap snaps shut on its victims. The leaves of Venus' Flytrap open wide and on them are short, stiff hairs called trigger or sensitive hairs. When anything touches these hairs enough to bend them, the two lobes of the leaves snap shut trapping whatever is inside. The trap will shut in less than a second. The trap doesn't close all of the way at first. It is thought that it stays open for a few seconds in order to allow very small insects to escape because they wouldn't provide enough food. If the object isn't food, e.g., a stone, or a nut, the trap will reopen in about twelve hours and 'spit' it out.
Carnivorous Plants
Bladderwort Flower
Informational video on how the Bladderwort
catches prey.
Pitcher Plant
Underwater Bladderwort catches tadpole.
Pitcher Plant captures a fly.
Venus Flytrap
Venus Flytrap captures an insect.
Venus Flytrap eat Rubik's cubes!
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