Among the representatives flora there are specimens that prefer not only carbon dioxide and water as food, but also insects, as well as small animals. it carnivorous plants, forced to eat like this due to the poverty of the soil where they grow. Being carnivores, they secrete a secret similar to digestive juice, hunt arthropods and insects, dissolve them for a certain time and thus obtain substances necessary for life. Such heterotrophic nutrition is the only way to survive in the specific climatic conditions that gave them their name.
The most popular representatives of this plant world are grown as houseplants, using to combat small insects at home.
The described plants are characterized by several types of traps for catching prey, while they do not belong to plant families:
- use of jug-shaped leaves;
- leaves forming a trap shape;
- sticky leaves and sweet secret;
- addictive traps;
- traps in the form of a crab claw.
The most popular predator is the sarracenia, or, as it is called correctly, the North American insectivore. Such plants grow on the east and south coasts North America in the southeast of Canada. The leaves are shaped like a water lily and serve as a trap for insects. This is a kind of funnel, the edges of which open in the form of a hood. It protects the opening of the plant, where enzymes and juices are produced, which are responsible for digesting food, from moisture. At the edges of the flower, a special secret is produced, which, with its color and aroma, "invites" representatives of the fauna. Sitting on the edge, insects slide inside the flower, plants intoxicated with narcotic substances, where they dissolve with the help of enzymes.
Birds sometimes use sarracenia as a feeder, taking out mosquitoes and flies that have not yet been digested. It is also grown on home windowsills. With its bright crimson color, sarracenia will add variety to the abundance of flowers, decorate any interior and help get rid of annoying insects.
These carnivorous plants also have water lily-shaped leaves that act as a trap. They grow in the tropics in Eurasia, Africa, Australia and the islands located in this climatic zone. The second name of this plant is "monkey cup". It was obtained during the observation of primates who drank rainwater from these flowers.
About 200 are known, most of them are tall vines, reaching a length of about 10-15 meters. Growing them at home is not very convenient, but if you choose a greenhouse with a warm climate as their place of residence, they will take root well. The stem contains leaves with a small tendril protruding from the tip, at the end of which a vessel is formed. It becomes wider at the ends, forming a small bowl. This bowl collects the liquid synthesized by the nepentes, which can be sticky or watery, depending on the type of flower. Insects drown in it, and, dissolving, form food for nepentes. In addition to small arthropods, some representatives of this flower are used for food and small mammals.
Rosyanka and Zhiryanka
Another large representative of carnivorous plants, which has about 194 species. lives on all continents, except permafrost, and feels good in all climatic conditions. These predatory plants live for a very long time - about 50 years. Plants feed on moving glandular tentacles ending in sticky and sweet secretions. Sitting on a sweet leaf, the insect sticks, and the tentacles slowly but surely make it move towards the trap. Here, special glands absorb the insect and digest it. The sundew is used as houseplants for controlling small insects.
In the same way, fattyanka works, using sticky leaves to lure and eat insects. There are about 80 known carnivores of this species; they grow in soils that are poor in minerals and salts, on the American continents, in Europe and Asia. The bright green or pink leaves of the flower have special cells that produce sticky mucus. Distributed over the surface in the form of drops, it turns it into a velcro, in which the legs of insects get stuck. Other cells produce digestive enzymes that process food. Zhiryanka also thrives on houseplants, blooming in summer.
The most popular indoor predatory plants in our country are flycatchers. In addition to flies, midges and mosquitoes, the nutrition of this plant is enriched by spiders and ants. it small flowerfeeling good at home flower pots and our climatic conditions. It has a short stem that hides under the ground, and from four to seven leaves, crowned with a head. The head consists of two plates that look like a heart. The plates are slightly concave and long, with cilia at the edges. A trap is formed from them. The inner surface of the heads produces a bright scarlet pigment that synthesizes mucus and is a bait.
When an insect lands on a leaf, it brushes against the sensory hairs covering the tentacles, and they snap shut abruptly. This happens in a tenth of a second, so an unwary fly has no chance to escape. The cilia, quite stiff and sharp, reliably hold the victim. The leaves of the flower begin to grow, joining at the edges and forming a stomach, in which enzymes break down the prey.
A sufficiently developed plant capable of distinguishing living from non-living flesh. If, instead of an insect, the sensors are irritated with a foreign object, it will reflexively close the head, but after a few seconds it will open it again.
Henlisea and Californian Darlington
Genliseya lives in humid conditions of a subtropical climate and is not suitable for home conditions. It is a short grass with bright yellow flowers and a claw trap. The exit from it is closed by small hairs growing to the edges or in a spiral. Leaves located above ground level are involved in the process of photosynthesis, and underground leaves are used to feed bacteria on the simplest microorganisms. In addition, underground leaves absorb moisture and perform strengthening functions, because genlisea has no roots. The leaves form hollow, spiral-shaped tubes into which microbes enter. As indoor plants, it is not customary to grow genlisees.
In the same marshy conditions, near natural springs with clean water, Darlingtonia also grows. It's pretty rare plant, which chose northern California as its habitat. Its leaves are in the shape of a bulb: a swollen, ball-shaped cavity and two sharp leaves that resemble hanging fangs. But although the leaves and traps, the flower itself is used as a trap in the form of a claw. Rays of light make their way through the plant, which deceive insects, forcing them to move inward. The movement takes place along thin villi growing towards the core and preventing the return.
Pemphigus and biblis
Pemphigus is very common carnivorous plantgrowing in conditions high humidity in all parts of the world except Antarctica. Only this representative of carnivores has a bubble trap. These bubbles have different sizes, from 0.2 mm to 1.2 cm in diameter. Small bubbles are intended for catching protozoa, and large ones for more significant prey. Sometimes they get caught by water fleas or even tadpoles. Hunting takes place very quickly: when the prey is near the bubble, it opens and abruptly draws in the victim and water. If you start pemphigus as home plant, it is better to land it near an artificial reservoir.
Biblis is better known as the rainbow plant. Australia is considered the birthplace of this carnivorous representative of the flora, and the name was given to him by the mucus that covers the leaves and shimmers in the sun. Outwardly, biblis is similar to a sundew. The flower has leaves with a round cross section, they are elongated, cone-shaped towards the end. They are completely covered by a slimy secret that attracts prey to the leaves and tentacles. These are wonderful indoor plants that feel comfortable at home.
Video Predatory Plants
Nature never ceases to amaze us with its riddles and surprises. It would seem a stalk with leaves, but also carnivorous! It turns out that there is a fairly significant category of plants that live by someone else's death. These are the so-called "Plutonians" - named after the mysterious ruler of death and rebirth - Pluto. The more common names are "carnivorous plants" and "predatory plants".
These plants are further proof of the mysteriousness of evolution. For example, in order to survive in shady wet places, the so-called epiphytes move to live on a higher and more powerful neighbor, however, without harm to him; predatory plants, scientists believe, evolved due to the extreme lack of nitrogen in the soil.
In total, about 500 species of predatory plants are known. Among the most famous "predators" - sundews, nepentes and sarracenia - insects make up the bulk of their prey (hence the other name for these plants - insectivores). Others - aquatic pemphigus and aldrovands - most often catch planktonic crustaceans. There are also such "predatory" plants that feed on fry, tadpoles or even toads and lizards. There are three groups of such insectivorous plants - plants with trap leaves, in which the halves of leaves with teeth along the edge close tightly, plants with velcro leaves, in which the hairs on the leaves secrete a sticky liquid that attracts insects, and plants in which the leaves are shaped jug with a lid filled with water.
Why do plants need "predation"?
The fact is that all carnivorous plants grow on poor soils, such as peat or sand. In such conditions, there is less competition among plants (few people are able to survive here), and the ability to catch live prey, break down and assimilate animal protein makes up for the deficiency in mineral nutrition. Carnivorous plants are especially numerous on wet soils, swamps and swamps, where they compensate for the lack of nitrogen at the expense of captured animals. As a rule, they are brightly colored, and this attracts insects accustomed to associating bright colors with the presence of nectar.
What are the characteristics of predatory plants?
They have various adaptations for capturing small animals, mainly insects and arachnids, digest their victims with "digestive juice" secreted by special glands, and suck in the resulting nutritious gruel, thus supplementing the nitrogen they need from the soil with nitrogen from animal tissues. As a rule, leaves are turned into insect trapping organs. They are covered with glue, carry sticky hairs, can bend inward, closing like a palm gathered into a fist. The leaf can be turned into a jug with a lid, from which an insect that gets there cannot get out.
There is reason to believe that some cultivated plants do not mind eating "meat" So, in the bases of pineapple leaves rain water accumulates, and small aquatic organisms multiply there - ciliates, rotifers, worms, insect larvae. There are suspicions that pineapple is able to digest and absorb them.
The most famous types:
Sundew
The genus Drosera (sundew) includes about 130 plant species. They live in tropical swamps, and in the long-drying soils of the Australian subtropics, and even in the tundra beyond the Arctic Circle. IN middle lane In Russia, you can find the round-leaved sundew. Usually sundews catch small insects, but some species are able to catch even larger prey.
The sundew leaves are covered with red or bright orange hairs, each of which is topped with a shiny droplet of liquid. In tropical sundews, the leaves resemble a necklace of many hundreds of dewdrops sparkling in the sun. But this is a deadly necklace: attracted by the glitter of the droplets, the reddish color of the leaf and its scent, the insect gets stuck in the sticky surface.
The victim's desperate attempts to free himself lead to the fact that more and more nearby hairs lean towards her, and in the end she is covered with sticky mucus. The insect is dying. The sundew then releases an enzyme that dissolves the prey. Only the wings, chitinous cover and other hard parts remain intact. If not one insect sits on a leaf, but two at once, then the hairs seem to share their responsibilities and cope with both.
Zhiryanka
Acts in much the same way as a sundew, luring insects with the sticky secretions of its long, tapering leaves, collected in a root rosette. Sometimes the edges of the leaves bend inward, and the prey in such a tray is locked. Other leaf cells then release digestive enzymes. After absorbing the "dish", the leaf unfolds and is ready to act again.
Venus flytrap
The genus Dionaea includes only one species, Dioneae muscipulata, better known as the Venus flytrap. This is the only plant in which catching insects with a quick movement of the trap can be observed even with the naked eye. In nature, the flycatcher is found in the swamps of North and South Carolina.
In an adult plant, the maximum size of the trap is 3 cm. Depending on the season, the type of trap changes markedly. In summer, when there is a lot of prey, the trap is brightly colored (usually dark red) and reaches its maximum size. In winter, when there is little prey, the traps decrease in size. On the edges of the leaf there are thick spines, similar to teeth, each leaf ("jaw") is equipped with 15-20 teeth, and in the middle of the leaf there are three guard hairs. An insect or other creature attracted by a bright leaf cannot but touch these hairs. The trap collapses only after the hairs are stimulated twice in the interval from 2 to 20 seconds. This prevents the traps from being triggered in the rain.
It is no longer possible to open the trap. If the leaf misses or something inedible gets into it, it will reopen in half an hour. Otherwise, it will remain closed until it digests the victim, which can take up to several weeks. As a rule, leaves, before dying off and being replaced by new ones, work in this way only two or three times.
Nepentes
The genus includes about 80 species of plants from tropical rain forests. Most of them are vines reaching several meters, but there are also low bushes... Nepentes traps are adapted to catch very large prey. The largest nepentes can catch small rodents, toads and even birds. However, insects are common prey for them.
Nepentes catch prey in a completely different way than all other carnivorous plants. In their tubular leaves, shaped like jugs, rainwater accumulates. In some, the tip of the leaf is rolled up like a funnel through which water flows inward; for others, it is bent over the opening and covers it, limiting the amount of incoming moisture to prevent overflow in heavy rains. On the outside of the jug, two toothed wings extend from top to bottom, serving both to support the jug and to guide crawling insects. Along the inner edge of the jug are cells that secrete sweet nectar. Under them there are many hard hairs facing downwards - a bristly palisade that does not allow the victim to get out of the jug. The wax secreted by the cells of the smooth surface of the leaves in most nepentes makes this surface so slippery that no claws, hooks or suckers can help the victim. Once in such a jug-trap, the insect is doomed, it sinks deeper into the water - and drowns. At the bottom of the jug, the insect decomposes, and its soft parts are absorbed by the plant.
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Growing individual hybrid species of nepentes is not difficult, with the only proviso that they require constant high humidity to form jugs. Nepentes are grown on a soil consisting of fibrous peat and sphagnum moss or on pure sphagnum moss. The main thing is that the soil is always loose and well aerated. Water these plants with abundant and soft water, avoiding the slightest drying out.
Many representatives of sundews are very difficult to keep in room conditions... Nevertheless, some tropical sundew species are very unpretentious and can grow in aquariums with high air humidity, since their leaves are very delicate and dry easily in a dry room atmosphere. The most suitable for growing indoors are the South African sundew Drosera alicia and the American sundew Drosera capillaris (this is the most hardy sundew).
Sarracenia grow well in a room without much maintenance. Soil mix should be loose and non-nutritious: washed quartz sand, chopped sphagnum and high peat (1: 2: 3) with the addition of pieces charcoal... Sarracenia often suffer from waterlogging, so they need good drainage. Watering - with distilled or pure snow (rain) water. The optimal place for them in the apartment is a window sill, best of all under a constantly ajar window, wintering at t 10-15 ° С.
Children and adults are very fond of the Venus flytrap, they stick their fingers in there and watch a small soft mouth close. Surprisingly, the reaction speed is only one-thirtieth of a second! This plant also knows how to play the "edible-inedible" game, and if the food is suitable, the leaf will open again only after 6-10 days. But if the leaf snapped shut in vain, then in 1-2 days the flycatcher will go hunting again.
It is the Venus flytrap that is most often bred at home and begins to feed. Caught flies and even small pieces of ordinary meat are fine. Therefore, if such an exotic has settled in your house, laying the meat table, do not forget to invite your green friend to him.
These amazing plants are carnivores, as they catch insects and arthropods, secrete digestive juices, dissolve the prey, and during this process they receive some or most of the nutrients. Almost all carnivorous plants grow in areas where the soil is poor in nutrients.
Here are the most famous carnivorous plants that use different types traps in order to lure your victim.
1. Sarracenia
Sarracenia or North American carnivorous plant is a genus of carnivorous plants that are found in areas east coast North America, Texas, Great Lakes, southeastern Canada, but most of it is found only in southeastern states.
This plant uses trapping water lily-shaped leaves as a trap. The leaves of the plant have turned into a funnel with a hood-like formation that grows over the hole, preventing rainwater from entering, which can dilute the digestive juices. Insects are attracted by the color, smell and secretions, similar to nectar on the edge of a water lily. The slippery surface and the narcotic lining the nectar encourage insects to fall inward, where they die and are digested by protease and other enzymes.
2. Nepenthes
Nepentes, a tropical carnivorous plant, is another type of trap carnivorous plant that uses trapping water lily-shaped leaves. There are about 130 species of these plants, which are widespread in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar, Seychelles, Australia, India, Borneo and Sumatra. This plant also received the nickname "monkey cup", as researchers often observed monkeys drinking rainwater from them.
Most of the Nepentes species are tall vines, about 10-15 meters, with a shallow root system. Leaves are often visible from the stem with a tendril that protrudes from the tip of the leaf and is often used for climbing. At the end of the tendril, the water lily forms a small vessel, which then expands to form a bowl.
The trap contains liquid secreted by the plant, which can have a watery or sticky texture, and in which the insects that the plant eats drown. The bottom of the bowl contains glands that absorb and distribute nutrients. Most of the plants are small and only catch insects, but large species like Nepenthes Rafflesiana and Nepenthes Rajah can catch small mammals like rats.
3. Predatory plant genlisea (Genlisea)
Genliseya consists of 21 species, usually grows in humid terrestrial and semi-aquatic environments and is distributed in Africa and Central and South America.
Genliseya is a small herb with yellow flowersthat use a crab claw type trap. It is easy to fall into such traps, but it is impossible to get out of them because of the small hairs that grow towards the entrance or, as in this case, forward in a spiral.
These plants have two different types Leaves: Photosynthetic leaves above the ground and special underground leaves that lure, trap and digest small organisms such as protozoa. The underground leaves also serve as roots, such as water absorption and attachment, since the plant itself does not have them. These underground leaves form hollow tubes that are spiral-shaped. Small microbes enter these tubes through the flow of water, but cannot escape from them. When they get to the exit, they will already be digested.
4. Californian Darlingtonia (Darlingtonia Californica)
Darlington california is the only member of the Darlingtonia genus that grows in northern California and Oregon. It grows in swamps and springs with cold running water and is considered a rare plant.
Darlingtonia leaves are bulbous and form a cavity with a hole under the swollen, like balloon, a structure and two sharp leaves that hang down like fangs.
Unlike many carnivorous plants, it does not use trapping leaves to trap, but uses a crab claw type trap. Once the insect is inside, they are confused by the specks of light that pass through the plant. They land in thousands of thick, fine hairs that grow inward. Insects can follow the hairs deep into the digestive organs, but cannot go back.
5. Pemphigus (Utricularia)
Pemphigus is a genus of carnivorous plants, consisting of 220 species. They meet in fresh water or wet soil as ground or aquatic species on all continents except Antarctica.
They are the only carnivorous plants that use the bubble trap. Most species have very small traps in which they can catch very small prey such as protozoa. Traps range from 0.2 mm to 1.2 cm, and large traps fall over big bootysuch as water fleas or tadpoles.
The bubbles are under negative pressure with respect to the surrounding stop. The opening of the trap opens, sucks in the insect and surrounding water, closes the valve, and all this happens in thousandths of a second.
6. Chiryanka (Pinguicula)
The fatty plant belongs to a group of carnivorous plants that use sticky, glandular leaves in order to lure and digest insects. Nutrients from insects supplement mineral-poor soil. There are approximately 80 species of these plants in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
The leaves are juicy and usually bright green or pink color... There are two special types cells on the upper side of the leaves. One is known as the peduncle gland and is made up of secretory cells at the apex of one stem cell. These cells produce a slimy secretion that forms visible droplets on the surface of the leaves and acts like a velcro. Other cells are called sessile glands, and they sit on the leaf surface, producing enzymes like amylase, protease and esterase that aid in the digestive process. While many types of birchworms are carnivorous all year round, many types form a dense winter rosette that is not carnivorous. When summer comes, it blooms and has new carnivorous leaves.
7. Rosyanka (Drosera)
Dewdrop is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. They are found on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Dewdrop can form root or vertical rosettes from 1cm to 1m in height and can live up to 50 years.
Sundews are characterized by moving glandular tentacles topped with sweet sticky secretions. When an insect lands on sticky tentacles, the plant begins to move the rest of the tentacles in the direction of the victim in order to further drive it into a trap. Once an insect is trapped, small sessile glands absorb it and nutrients are used for plant growth.
8. Byblis
Biblis or rainbow plant it is a small species of carnivorous plants native to Australia. The rainbow plant gets its name from the attractive slime that covers the leaves in the sun. Despite the fact that these plants are similar to sundews, they are in no way related to the latter and differ in zygomorphic flowers with five curved stamens.
Its leaves have a round cross section, and most often they are elongated and conical at the end. The surface of the leaves is completely covered with glandular hairs that secrete a sticky mucous substance that serves as a trap for small insects that perch on the leaves or tentacles of the plant.
9. Aldrovanda vesiculosa (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)
Aldrovanda bladder is a gorgeous rootless, carnivorous aquatic plant... It usually feeds on small aquatic vertebrates using a trap.
The plant consists mainly of free-floating stems that reach 6-11 cm in length. Trap leaves, 2-3 mm in size, grow in 5-9 curls in the center of the stem. The traps attach to the petioles, which contain air that allows the plant to swim. It is a fast growing plant and can grow up to 4-9 mm per day and in some cases produce a new curl every day. While the plant grows at one end, the other end gradually dies.
The trap of the plant consists of two lobes that slam shut like a trap. The holes of the trap are directed outward and are covered with fine hairs that allow the trap to close around any victim that gets close enough. The trap closes in tens of milliseconds, which is one of the fastest movement in the animal kingdom.
10. Venus flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)
Venus flytrapis perhaps the most famous carnivorous plant that feeds primarily on insects and arachnids. It is a small plant with 4-7 leaves that grow from a short underground stem.
Its leaf plate is divided into two areas: flat, long, heart-shaped petioles capable of photosynthesis and a pair of terminal lobes hanging from the main vein of the leaf, which form a trap. The inner surface of these lobes contains red pigment and the edges secrete mucus.
Dionaea muscipula vs Caterpillar
The leaf lobes move abruptly, snapping shut when its sensory hairs are stimulated. The plant is so developed that it can distinguish a living stimulus from a nonliving one. Its leaves collapse in 0.1 second. They are bordered by cilia, rigid, like thorns, which hold the prey. As soon as the victim is caught, inner surface leaves are gradually stimulated, and the edges of the lobes grow and merge, closing the trap and creating a closed stomach, where the prey is digested.
Surely many have heard of flowers that eat animals and insects. To date, science knows about several hundred such plants. To characterize them, terms such as "carnivorous flowers" or simply "predatory plants" are used. Most of them feed on medium-sized insects, but there are specimens that can even digest a frog.
There are also house plantsthat feed on insects. Fans of carnivorous flowers claim that their pet is excellent at fighting mosquitoes and flies, significantly reducing the population.
What are these plants and why did they become insectivorous?
Such flowers can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Most of them are grassy perennial plants. They belong to two families - Bubble and Rosyankovye. Plant predators are also found on the territory of the CIS countries. Some of them, for example, alpine zhiryanka, are listed in the Red Book of their countries.
These plants feed on insects have become in the process of evolution. Most of them settle on poor soils where there is a lack of nitrogen and other vital substances. Thus, by eating insects, they receive the necessary nutrition. In the process of evolution, the ability to digest animal protein was developed, and the flowers themselves acquired a lot of qualities that could attract attention. Many of these plants have a smell that insects associate with honey nectar, and they use the peculiar color of leaves and flowers as a distraction.
There are predators in which the inflorescence grows in the form of a water lily. In it, as in a bowl, water is collected in the rain, and for a long time kept in excellent condition. Attracted by the opportunity to drink water, the unfortunate insects sit on the petal and slide down to the bottom of the bowl. After the victim drowns, the plant sap enters the process, which in its action resembles gastric juice.
The process of catching a gullible insect as follows. As soon as a bee or a butterfly sits on the petals, hairs with enzymes enter the hunt process. The structure of the petal has a lot of traps that can reliably hold the insect and it is almost impossible to escape from the bait. Special enzymes containing poison kill the victim, and the juices from his body flow into the plant tissue. Only the chitinous shell remains of the insect, which is not digested.
Nonetheless, protein food for predators only a source of microelements missing in the soil, because photosynthesis remains the main food.
Insectivorous plants
There are about one hundred thousand plants that eat insects in the world. Consider the most famous of them.
Genlisei
The habitat of Genlisei is South America and Africa. Herbaceous plant has spiral traps. Thanks to the villi inside the trap, the insect is kept for further process absorption. It is noteworthy that only those leaves that grow below, along the surface of the earth, are carnivorous. They just feed on small insects and the simplest microorganisms, acting as roots, while the upper leaves are absolutely safe.
Darlingtonia
Unusual carnivorous plant in the form of a bulb. In the process of evolution, he has formed sharp petals in the form of animal fangs. Darlingtonia uses a special claw for hunting. Outwardly, it looks like an asymmetrical flower. with villi inside. The insidious predator uses its color coloration to lure the prey, which confuses the insect with the help of bright spots on the surface.
Insectivorous plants with water lily traps
- Nepentes.
- Saccoid cephalotus.
- Sarracenia.
Nepentes
He, like many insectivorous plants, has water lily-shaped petals. There are no less than one hundred and twenty species of this plant. Some of them are quite large and can eat even small mammals such as mice. Nepentes is widespread in Asia, Australia and India. Monkeys use this flower as a source of water.... That is why the aborigines called Nepentes "the monkey bowl". It grows in the form of a vine with a small root system.
There is always water in the bucket flowers. Insects that sit on a water lily simply drown in it, and then the gastric juice of the plant enters the process.
Cephalotus Saccoid
Large strong water lilies with denticles at the edges they attract insects with the help of a specific smell. The surface of the water lilies itself is smooth and the victim easily slips to the bottom of the inflorescence, from which it is no longer possible to get out. Most often, large tropical ants become victims.
Sarracenia
You can only meet her in the northern United States and Canada. The carnivorous Sarracenia catches its prey with the help of water lily inflorescences. Digestive juice is formed on the petals, which are reliably protected from moisture ingress. It attracts insects with its specific smell, reminiscent of nectar. Sat down on the surface the petal, the victim is paralyzed by the instantly released narcotic poison.
Insectivorous plants that live in water
- Suction bladder.
- Bubble Aldrovanda.
These predators prefer to live in swampy areas where there is a lot of food for them in the form of mosquitoes and marsh flies.
Suction bladder
This insectivorous plant can be found in many parts of our planet. It is not, perhaps, only in the Far North. With the power of the bubbles, which are hollow inside, the bubble sucks in its prey. Since the plant lives in water, water fleas and tadpoles become its prey. The process of catching prey itself is very fast and efficient. A small vacuum cleaner tries to suck in with water everything that floats by, and only then releases it, leaving everything you need for itself.
Bubble Aldrovanda
Inhabits water, and prefers swampy areas where there are many insects and tadpoles ... Filamentous stemsin the water form a dense growth. The bristles are elongated, and there are swellings on the crustacean plates. Thanks to these swellings, Aldrovanda feels the victim and instantly collapses it. The process of digestion takes longer, at the end of which only the shell remains of the insect.
Most predatory plants prefer to trap their prey with a sticky surface.
Sticky fat
Its method of catching is similar to the sticky tape, which until recently was used in every house against flies. The leaves have a pleasant pink, and in some places, bright green color. With the help of cells capable of digesting animal food, the plant attracts insects, since the smell emanating from the trunk reminds them of nectar. Sitting on a sticky surface, the victim can no longer take off and becomes food for the flower. There are species that go into hibernation and hide in a tight outlet during the winter months.
Bibles rainbow
Outwardly, this Australian predator looks like a sundew, but in fact the plant is a special kind of carnivorous flora. The rounded sheets have hairs that secrete very aggressive pink mucus. Cute flowers are painted with all the colors of the rainbow, and inside the inflorescence there are large stamens. The victim, after sitting on the flower, sticks to it tightly.
Venus flytrap
A small carnivorous plant with a thick stem and pretty white flowers is happily bred in home greenhouses. It has no more than four leaves on each stem. The victim, falling on the predator's leaf, slams into a trap, after which gastric juice enters the process. The sheets are flattened and thickened, increasing in volume. If the victim is large, then it takes at least a week to digest it. The bait, like many predators, is mucus secreted by the leaf.
Small plant with thin sticky leaves are considered a real glutton among other plant predators. In one day, the Lusitanian Rosolite can catch and digest up to thirty large insects. He lures them with the help of a sweet sticky mass released on the surface of the leaf.
Insectivorous plants in the house
IN recent times cultivating insectivorous flowers at home has become very popular among fans of home vegetation. Already you will surprise no one with such exoticism as the Venus flytrap or Sarracenia. People are attracted by everything bright, unusual and dangerous. Someone gets predatory animals or poisonous reptiles, and some of all the inhabitants of the aquarium prefer piranhas. Florists are not far behind.
What is needed for a predator plant felt great in a city apartment.
Incredible facts
Among all the strange plants in the world, there are even some that devour flesh.
Well, maybe not really flesh, but insects, but, nevertheless, they are considered carnivorous... All carnivorous plants are found in areas where the soil is poor in nutrients.
These amazing plants are carnivores, as they catch insects and arthropods, secrete digestive juices, dissolve the prey, and in the course of this process they receive some or most of the nutrients.
Here are the most famous carnivorous plants that use different types of traps to lure your victim.
1. Sarracenia
Sarracenia or North American carnivorous plant is a genus of carnivorous plants that are found in areas of the east coast of North America, Texas, the Great Lakes, southeastern Canada, but most are found only in the southeastern states.
This plant uses water lily-shaped trapping leaves as a trap... The leaves of the plant have turned into a funnel with a hood-like formation that grows above the hole, preventing rainwater from entering, which can dilute the digestive juices. Insects are attracted by the color, smell and secretions, similar to nectar on the edge of a water lily. The slippery surface and the narcotic substance lining the nectar encourage insects to fall inward, where they are killed and digested by protease and other enzymes.
2. Nepenthes
Nepentes, a tropical carnivorous plant, is another type of trap carnivorous plant that uses trapping water lily-shaped leaves. There are about 130 species of these plants, which are widespread in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar, Seychelles, Australia, India, Borneo and Sumatra. This plant also received the nickname " monkey cup"as researchers often observed monkeys drinking rainwater from them.
Most of the Nepentes species are tall vines, about 10-15 meters, with a shallow root system. Leaves are often visible from the stem with a tendril that protrudes from the tip of the leaf and is often used for climbing. At the end of the tendril, the water lily forms a small vessel, which then expands to form a bowl.
The trap contains liquid secreted by the plant, which can have a watery or sticky texture, and in which the insects that the plant eats drown. The bottom of the bowl contains glands that absorb and distribute nutrients. Most of the plants are small and only catch insects, but large species such as Nepenthes Rafflesiana and Nepenthes Rajah, can catch small mammals such as rats.
3. Predatory plant genlisea (Genlisea)
Genlisea consists of 21 species, usually grows in humid terrestrial and semi-aquatic environments and is common in Africa and Central and South America.
Genlisea is a small herb with yellow flowers that use a crab claw type trap... It is easy to fall into such traps, but it is impossible to get out of them because of the small hairs that grow towards the entrance or, as in this case, forward in a spiral.
These plants have two different types of leaves: photosynthetic leaves above the ground and special underground leaves that lure, trap and digest small organismssuch as protozoa. The underground leaves also serve as roots, such as water absorption and attachment, since the plant itself does not have them. These underground leaves form hollow tubes that are spiral-shaped. Small microbes enter these tubes through the flow of water, but cannot escape from them. When they get to the exit, they will already be digested.
4. Californian Darlingtonia (Darlingtonia Californica)
Californian Darlingtonia is the only member of the Darlingtonia genus that grows in northern California and Oregon. It grows in swamps and springs with cold running water and considered a rare plant.
Darlingtonia leaves are bulbous and form a cavity with an opening under the balloon-like structure and two sharp leaves that hang down like fangs.
Unlike many carnivorous plants, it does not use trapping leaves to trap, but uses a crab claw type trap. Once the insect is inside, they are confused by the specks of light that pass through the plant. They land in thousands of thick, fine hairs that grow inward. Insects can follow the hairs deep into the digestive organs, but cannot go back.
5. Pemphigus (Utricularia)
Pemphigus is a genus of carnivorous plants, consisting of 220 species. They are found in fresh water or moist soil as terrestrial or aquatic species on all continents except Antarctica.
These are the only carnivorous plants that use bubble trap... Most species have very small traps in which they can catch very small prey such as protozoa. Traps range in size from 0.2 mm to 1.2 cm, and larger traps will trap larger prey such as water fleas or tadpoles.
The bubbles are under negative pressure in relation to their surroundings. The opening of the trap opens, sucks in the insect and surrounding water, closes the valve, and all this happens in thousandths of a second.
6. Chiryanka (Pinguicula)
Grease is a carnivorous group of plants that use sticky, glandular leaves to lure and digest insects. Nutrients from insects supplement mineral-poor soil. There are approximately 80 species of these plants in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
The leaves are juicy and usually bright green or pink. There are two special types of cells on the upper side of the leaves. One is known as the peduncle gland and is made up of secretory cells at the apex of one stem cell. These cells produce a slimy secretion that forms visible droplets on the leaf surface and acts like Velcro... Other cells are called sessile glands, and they sit on the leaf surface, producing enzymes like amylase, protease and esterase that aid in the digestive process. While many types of birchworms are carnivorous all year round, many types form a dense winter rosette that is not carnivorous. When summer comes, it blooms and has new carnivorous leaves.
7. Rosyanka (Drosera)
Dewdrop is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. They are found on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Dewdrop can form root or vertical rosettes from 1cm to 1m in height and can live up to 50 years.
Sundews are characterized by moving glandular tentaclestopped with sweet sticky secretions. When an insect lands on sticky tentacles, the plant begins to move the rest of the tentacles in the direction of the victim in order to further drive it into a trap. Once an insect is trapped, small sessile glands absorb it and nutrients are used for plant growth.
8. Byblis
The biblis or rainbow plant is a small species of carnivorous plant native to Australia. The rainbow plant gets its name from the attractive slime that covers the leaves in the sun. Despite the fact that these plants are similar to sundews, they are in no way related to the latter and differ in zygomorphic flowers with five curved stamens.
Its leaves have a round cross section, and most often they are elongated and conical at the end. The surface of the leaves is completely covered with glandular hairs that secrete a sticky mucous substance that serves as a trap for small insects that perch on the leaves or tentacles of the plant.
9. Aldrovanda vesiculosa (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)
Aldrovanda blister is a magnificent, rootless, carnivorous aquatic plant. It is usually feeds on small aquatic vertebrates using a trap.
The plant consists mainly of free-floating stems that reach 6-11 cm in length. Trap leaves, 2-3 mm in size, grow in 5-9 curls in the center of the stem. The traps attach to the petioles, which contain air that allows the plant to swim. It is a fast growing plant and can grow up to 4-9 mm per day and in some cases produce a new curl every day. While the plant grows at one end, the other end gradually dies.
The trap of the plant consists of two lobes that slam shut like a trap. The holes of the trap are directed outward and are covered with fine hairs that allow the trap to close around any victim that gets close enough. The trap closes in tens of milliseconds, which is one example the fastest movement in the animal kingdom.
10. Venus flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)
Venus flytrap is perhaps the most famous carnivorous plant that feeds mainly on insects and arachnids... It is a small plant with 4-7 leaves that grow from a short underground stem.
Its leaf plate is divided into two areas: flat, long, heart-shaped petioles capable of photosynthesis and a pair of terminal lobes hanging from the main vein of the leaf, which form a trap. The inner surface of these lobes contains red pigment and the edges secrete mucus.
The leaf lobes move abruptly, snapping shut when its sensory hairs are stimulated. The plant is so developed that it can distinguish a living stimulus from a nonliving one... Its leaves collapse in 0.1 second. They are bordered by cilia, which are rigid, like thorns, which hold the prey. Once the victim is caught, the inner surface of the leaves is gradually stimulated, and the edges of the lobes grow and merge, closing the trap and creating a closed stomach, where the prey is digested.