How Carnivorous Plants Catch Mosquitoes and Insects: Methods and Principles Explained
Carnivorous plants have 5 basic insect-catching mechanisms.
(1) Pitfall or pitcher traps containing digestive enzymes or bacterial digestive fluid.
(2) Sticky traps covered all over with viscous droplets.
(3) Snap traps that close rapidly.
(4) Bladder traps that generate a vacuum to suck in prey.
(5) Lobster-pot traps with inward-pointing hairs that force prey into the digestive organ.
These traps are divided into active traps and passive traps, depending on whether movement that helps capture prey occurs. For example, plants of the genus Triphyophyllum secrete mucus, but their leaves cannot curl toward prey, so the traps of Triphyophyllum are passive traps. In contrast, the leaves of sundew (Drosera) curl over prey through rapid growth. This rapid elongation is achieved through cell division, not cell elongation. Therefore, the traps of sundew are active traps.
What Carnivorous Plants Are There and How to Grow Carnivorous Plants
Summer is coming soon, and especially in the south the weather becomes very hot and humid. A damp environment very easily attracts mosquitoes and insects, and having mosquitoes and insects at home is undoubtedly the most annoying thing. So what methods can solve this? Growing carnivorous plants at home is best of all, since they can both repel insects and green the environment. Today the editor will show you what carnivorous plants there are, as well as how carnivorous plants look and how to grow them.
I. What Carnivorous Plants Are There
There are many kinds of carnivorous plants in nature, so the editor will introduce a few common ones for you!
1. Pitcher plant: The pitcher plant differs from other carnivorous plants in that it not only eats small flying insects, but also eats small animals as large as a mouse. Moreover, the pitcher plant can be called the best-looking of the carnivorous plants; each of its leaves is like a vase, which is why it is called the pitcher plant, and each leaf blade is an insect trap.
2. Tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes): Among carnivorous plants, the tropical pitcher plant can be called the most famous. It comes with its own insect-catching pouch, the mouth of the pouch is very smooth, and nectar glands are also distributed inside, which can secrete sweet nectar to attract mosquitoes and insects and eliminate them.
3. Venus flytrap: The Venus flytrap can be said to have the strongest insect-catching ability in nature. It has two leaf lobes, shaped like a clamp, usually open with the leaves curving outward. If an insect touches the Venus flytrap, it will immediately close up; half of the insect's body is inside the leaf, while the other half struggles, but the more it struggles to break free, the tighter it gets.
II. How to Grow Carnivorous Plants
Now let us look at how to grow carnivorous plants! First, we need to understand that the way carnivorous plants obtain nutrients is by catching insects, so their roots are not well developed and their absorption will be very poor. Also, the potting soil sold on the market contains too much fertilizer, so it is not suitable for growing carnivorous plants. What is suitable for carnivorous plants should be unfertilized peat, perlite, sphagnum moss, sand, akadama soil, and so on. Also, the vast majority of carnivorous plants like humid environments, so you might as well spread wet sphagnum moss on the flowerpot and spray more water. In addition, carnivorous plants had best use a water source with relatively low mineral content; friends might as well use rainwater for watering.
That is all the content on how to grow carnivorous plants. I wonder if you clever readers have learned it? The scorching summer is coming soon; if you do not want mosquitoes and insects flying all over your home, then hurry up and plant a few pots of carnivorous plants!
What Mosquito-Repelling Plants Are There, Mosquito-Repelling Plant Recommendations
In summer there are many mosquitoes and insects flying and running rampant everywhere; this is something everyone knows very well. Moreover, these unpleasant mosquitoes and insects buzz incessantly by people's ears at night, making people extremely irritated. So to deal with these mosquitoes and insects, people have tried every possible method, and growing mosquito-repelling plants at home is one of them. But do mosquito-repelling plants really repel mosquitoes and insects, and in real life what good mosquito-repelling plants do we have? Below let us take a look at mosquito-repelling plant recommendations.
¤ Introduction to Mosquito-Repelling Plants
Mosquito-repelling plants are actually also called mosquito-deterring plants, which literally can be understood as a kind of natural plant that can achieve the repelling of mosquitoes and insects. Their kinds are very rich, and the various plants under this category generally release certain odors or chemical substances through various tissues or organs on the plant, such as flowers, leaves, and other things. These odors and substances can repel mosquitoes and insects yet are harmless to the human body, thereby achieving the mosquito- and insect-repelling effect. So mosquito-repelling plants really can repel mosquitoes and insects.
¤ Mosquito-Repelling Plant Recommendations
1. Mosquito-repelling geranium
When talking about mosquito-repelling plants, everyone will invariably think of mosquito-repelling geranium, right? This is a mosquito-repelling plant with a very good mosquito-repelling effect. The plant has a very unique lemon fragrance, and because the plant uses transgenic technology, the citronellal gene structure inside the plant has the unique substance citronella inserted into it. The plant can continuously release these substances into the surrounding air, forming a natural evaporator, so the room is always filled with fragrance, and the effect of driving away mosquitoes and insects is very obvious.
2. Night-blooming jasmine (cestrum)
It is also called the night-scented cestrum, and is a perennial evergreen semi-climbing soft small shrub, mainly produced in tropical America, the West Indies, and so on. Every year when summer and autumn arrive, the plant blooms small yellow-green or purple bell-shaped flowers, and this flower is what people call night-blooming jasmine. It looks very elegant and fresh, as if it were little stars shining at night, and can give off a refreshing fragrance, and these fragrances are the important substances for driving away mosquitoes and insects, with a great mosquito- and insect-repelling effect.
3. Lantana
Some friends may not be especially familiar with lantana. This is also a plant with a very good mosquito-repelling effect, because when its flowers bloom their color changes repeatedly: first yellow or pink, then soft whip-like into orange-yellow or orange-red, and finally red, so it is also called by people the mosquito-repelling seven-change flower. The plant's branches, leaves, and flowers can all give off an odor to which mosquitoes and insects are very sensitive. And this odor causes no harm at all to the human body, and its mosquito- and insect-repelling effect is very considerable.
4. Carnivorous grass
Many people grow carnivorous grass in summer, because this is probably the plant in people's minds that catches mosquitoes and insects to achieve a good mosquito-repelling effect. The plant belongs to the Asteraceae herbaceous plants and has a strong ability to catch mosquitoes and insects, and can turn these mosquitoes and insects into its own nutrients to supply its own growth needs, so daily cultivation is very easy, and there is no need to specially fertilize, and so on. Many families grow a few pots of carnivorous grass in summer, and the effect of driving away mosquitoes and insects is very obvious and effective.
Summary: Of course, in the magical and vast natural world, mosquito-repelling plants are definitely not limited to these. For example, lavender, orange jasmine, geranium, tropical pitcher plant, plane tree, marigold, lotus, and jasmine, among other plants, all have a very good effect of deterring mosquitoes and repelling insects.