Carnivorous Plant Recommendations: 3 of the Most Famous Insect-Catching Experts
Summer is when small bugs are most common. You want to kill them but worry that spraying pesticides is harmful to your health, so what can you do? Why not grow some green plants and flowers? Some flower enthusiasts might say that flowers and plants actually attract even more bugs. But that is not necessarily true. Today, the editor has gathered 3 of the most famous insect-eating plants. Come and take a look!
Nepenthes (Pitcher Plant)
In nature, Nepenthes (pitcher plants) generally grow prostrate. Their leaves have a complex structure, specifically divided into the petiole, leaf blade and tendril. The tip of the tendril expands and curls back to form a pitcher shape, which can be used to catch insects. Nepenthes uses the rim of its pitcher-shaped opening to secrete nectar to lure insects. The pitcher mouth is very smooth, easily causing insects to slip into the pitcher, where they are then drowned by the liquid secreted at the bottom of the pitcher. Nepenthes absorbs nutrients from the insects by breaking down their bodies.
Venus Flytrap
The Venus flytrap is a type of vascular plant and is a carnivorous plant much loved by everyone. Like most plants, it has a complete set of roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds. Its leaves are the most important and conspicuous part, with the function of catching insects. The leaves of the Venus flytrap look like a gaping maw waiting for prey to come to it. The Venus flytrap is known as the carnivorous plant of the natural world.
Drosera burmannii (Tropical Sundew)
Drosera burmannii is also a carnivorous plant often mentioned by people. Generally, it likes to grow on grassland or on damp rock surfaces. Its leaves spread flat on the ground in a rosette, with broad spoon-shaped leaves whose edges are covered with glandular hairs. When an insect falls onto it, the glandular hairs of Drosera burmannii immediately wrap around the insect, and its sticky glands trap the insect inside. This liquid can also break down the seeds into nutrients such as protein, which are then absorbed by the leaf surface.
The above are the 3 most famous insect-eating plants compiled by the editor. Don't you think they are amazing and very useful? Have any flower enthusiasts ever grown them? Nature is truly full of wondrous things, and we should protect it well.
There Are Also Insect-Eating Species Among Plants: A Complete Guide to Carnivorous Plants
People may think that plants that eat animals are terrifying, but this all stems from our lack of understanding, or fear of the unknown. You may not know that there are many insect-eating plants right around you, only you have not paid attention. If you take the time to learn about them, you might be greatly surprised. Below, the editor will take you through some of the common carnivorous plants.
There Are Also Insect-Eating Species Among Plants
What Are Insectivorous Plants
Carnivorous plants are autotrophic plants that obtain nutrients (not energy) by capturing and digesting animals. Most of their prey are insects and arthropods. They grow in nutrient-poor soil, especially in areas lacking nitrogen, such as acidic swamps and rocky desertification areas.
Carnivorous plants that can attract and capture prey, produce digestive enzymes and absorb the decomposed nutrients are distributed across 10 families and about 21 genera, with more than 630 species. In addition, there are over 300 genera of plants that have insect-catching functions but do not have the ability to digest their prey, and can only be called insect-catching plants. Some Nepenthes can occasionally prey on small mammals or reptiles, so carnivorous plants are also called meat-eating plants.
What Carnivorous Plants Are There?
1. Venus Flytrap
Venus Flytrap
The genus Dionaea belongs to the family Droseraceae, with only 1 species in the entire genus, namely the Venus flytrap Dionaea Muscipula, but there are many cultivated varieties. It is native to Carolina in the United States, mostly growing in wetlands or swamps. The trap of the Venus flytrap has the ability to move, and the trapping process is very interesting, making it deeply loved by people. It has become the most popular carnivorous plant variety among enthusiasts in China. The trapping process of the Venus flytrap is probably the most unusual among all carnivorous plants, with the most complex trapping mechanism. The trapping structure of the Venus flytrap is a clamp formed by a left and right symmetrical pair of leaves. This clamp-shaped structure is specialized from the leaf, while the leaf-shaped structure connecting the trap is the petiole. The outer edge of the trap is lined with spike-like hairs. At first glance they look very sharp and prickly, but these hairs are actually very soft. Their function is to prevent captured insects from escaping.
2. Sundew
Sundew
The genus Drosera is one of the carnivorous plant genera, belonging to the family Droseraceae. There are about 100 species, distributed in Oceania, North Africa, Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia and Australia, with a few in cold zones. China has 6 species; apart from 1 species found in the Northeast, the rest are found in the provinces and regions south of the Yangtze River and coastal areas such as Taiwan, China. The sundew is also a carnivorous plant. It has distinct stems, and the stems bear tiny glandular hairs that can produce a sticky liquid. The sundew uses this sticky liquid to capture insects.
3. Nepenthes
Nepenthes
Nepenthes is a famous tropical carnivorous plant, mainly native to tropical Asia. Nepenthes has a unique organ for absorbing nutrients - the pitcher. The pitcher is cylindrical, slightly swollen in the lower half, and because its shape resembles a pig cage, it is called "pig cage plant" in Chinese. In its place of origin in China, Hainan, it is also called "Leigong pot," meaning it resembles a wine pot. Plants that do not directly take in and manufacture the nutrients needed to sustain life from the soil and other inorganic sources, but instead rely on catching insects and other small animals to make a living, are called carnivorous plants. The pitcher of Nepenthes contains nectar glands that can secrete nectar to lure insects. After an insect enters the pitcher, the lid does not close as people might imagine, but the inner wall of the pitcher opening is very smooth, so it can prevent insects from crawling out.
4. Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia)
Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia belongs to the genus Sarracenia in the family Sarraceniaceae. Plants of this genus are native to Western Europe, North America and Mexico. Because their tubular leaves secrete digestive fluid inside, which mixes with stored rainwater to cause insects trapped inside the tube to decompose. In other words, they use their leaves to capture and digest insects such as ants and wasps. Anatomy of Sarracenia purpurea. Pitcher plants are perennial herbaceous plants, growing pitcher-like leaves in a rosette from the growth point of the underground stem. The leaves are divided into insect-catching leaves with a trapping function and sword-shaped leaves without a trapping function.
5. Sundew (Drosera)
Sundew
Drosera belongs to the family Droseraceae and mainly grows in sandy acidic soil in moist, swampy areas. The flowers are small, white or pale pink, with a maximum diameter of 1.25 cm. The leaf margins are flat, and the leaf surface is covered with a layer of glandular hairs. The glands secrete a sticky substance that attracts insects. When insects are attracted to feed, they are captured by the bendable tentacle hairs on the leaf surface, and the leaf then rolls up. After the tentacle hairs secrete enzymes to digest them, the leaf opens again and sets its net once more.
6. Butterwort
Butterwort
Butterwort is a small carnivorous plant with a delicate, graceful quality. Its leaves are as beautiful as a flower that forever stays in bloom. The leaf surface is covered with glands that secrete mucus. When a small insect approaches, it can stick to the insect like flypaper and digest and absorb it. The bright flowers of the butterwort easily attract insects. When a flying insect lands on the leaf, it is stuck by the mucus. Of course, the stuck insect is not willing to be caught without a fight; it struggles desperately, so the leaf margin curls inward, wrapping it inside so it cannot escape. In this way, the insect falls into the clutches of the butterwort.
7. Bladderwort
Bladderwort
The most representative aquatic plant in the genus Utricularia. The plant body is emerald green or yellow-green. It has a slender main stem axis over 100 cm long, from which branches grow on both sides of the stem axis, and beautiful feather-like needle-shaped lobed leaves grow from the branches. Its insect-catching bladders are usually green to yellow-green and can capture and digest microorganisms in water. Because its feather-like needle-shaped lobed leaves are densely grown, slender and graceful in form, it is a bladderwort variety very suitable for aquatic plant landscaping, but when planting, care must be taken to secure the base stem. It can adapt to the aquarium environment and grows quickly, potentially filling the aquarium in a short time, so it must be pruned regularly.
8. Drosera burmannii
Drosera burmannii
Drosera burmannii is the whole herb of the Droseraceae plant Drosera burmannii with the flowering stem removed. It is a carnivorous plant that often grows on grassland, damp rock surfaces or sandy soil. The leaves of Drosera burmannii spread flat on the ground in a rosette, with broad spoon-shaped leaves whose edges are covered with glandular hairs. When an insect falls in, the glandular hairs surround the insect's body, and the sticky glands stick the insect fast. The secreted liquid can break down nutrients such as insect body protein, which are then absorbed by the leaf surface. A family in the subclass Dilleniidae of the class Dicotyledoneae.
9. Cephalotus
Cephalotus
Cephalotus: also known as the Australian pitcher plant. The only species in the family Cephalotaceae, native to southwestern Australia. It is a perennial herb with a short woody underground stem. The flowers are pale yellow, and its lower leaves are pitcher-shaped, used to catch insects. It catches insects through passive pitfall traps. The lid of the pitcher cannot move. The pitcher and lid turn purplish-red under strong sunlight, and the lid has transparent windows to attract insects. The interior of the pitcher has glands, and the pitcher mouth is slippery. Insects resting on the outer rim of the pitcher mouth easily lose their footing and fall into the pitcher, where they are drowned by the liquid inside and digested and broken down by digestive fluids.
10. Utricularia bifida
Utricularia bifida
Utricularia bifida, with alternative names yunxiangcao, maoyecao (from "Diannan Bencao"), yeyanye, yesicao (from "Caomu Bianfang"), yeyan (from "Fenlei Caoyaoxing"), daotihu (from "Zhongyao Xingxing Jingyan Jianbie Fa"), jinwaer (from "Sichuan Zhongyaozhi"), yekuihua, liushicao, maoyeyunxiangcao, yezhaoyangbing (from "Yunnan Zhongcaoyao"). It is the whole herb of the Asteraceae plant Carpesium cernuum. Family Lentibulariaceae, annual herb. It has inconspicuous creeping stems, and leaf organs on underground stems; the whole plant has no green leaves and does not carry out photosynthesis; insect-catching bladders grow on the leaf organs and creeping stems, spherical, flattened, preying on tiny animals in wet soil. The raceme stands above the ground, the bracts are brownish-red, and the flowers are yellow. It often grows in wet grassland. It is distributed in the southeastern and southwestern provinces of China.
A Roundup of the World's 10 Most Terrifying Carnivorous Plants
In this vast world, nothing is too strange. Today, the editor will introduce some of the most famous carnivorous plants in the plant kingdom. They are all clever and sharp-witted killers among plants!
Cephalotus
Cephalotus, with pale yellow flowers and pitcher-shaped leaves used to catch insects. Its trap is very similar to that of Nepenthes, but also different from Nepenthes. The connection between its stalk and the trap is at the upper part of the back, while the connection in Nepenthes is at the bottom of the pitcher. This feature distinguishes it from Nepenthes.
Sundew
Sundew, with glandular hairs growing on its leaves. Its trap can secrete a sticky liquid, as crystal-clear as water droplets. The sundew looks as if it is covered with glistening, translucent dewdrops, and can stick insects firmly fast like flypaper.
Bladderwort
Bladderwort does not need to wait for prey to come to it like other plants; it can take the initiative to attack, completing a capture in as little as one hundredth of a second. Because of its fast predation speed, for its “prey,” the bladderwort is absolutely a deadly killer!
Its prey is mainly small invertebrates such as water fleas, nematodes and mosquito larvae, and it can also prey on vertebrates such as small fry and small tadpoles.
Nepenthes
Nepenthes is a carnivorous plant we are relatively familiar with. It has a unique insect-catching pitcher, named for its cylindrical shape that closely resembles a pig cage. It can secrete a fragrant scent to lure insects. Its pitcher mouth is smooth, and insects that slip into the pitcher are drowned by the secreted liquid.
Venus Flytrap
Venus flytrap, whose leaves can secrete nectar that insects like. When an insect approaches, its leaves can close quickly, and the trigger hairs interlock and bite together, clamping the insect.
Pitcher Plant
The pitcher-shaped leaves of the pitcher plant can secrete nectar that attracts insects. The flowers of the pitcher plant are very distinctive, with a huge helmet-shaped stigma in the center, and a brightly colored appearance that is very beautiful.
Butterwort
Butterwort, as a beautiful-looking carnivorous plant, is widely grown in horticulture. It is a mucus-secreting type of carnivorous plant. Its leaves look translucent and clean, yet hide deadly danger.
Rainbow Plant
Rainbow plant, whose leaf surface bears hairs that secrete mucus. Once a small insect gets stuck, it will die from suffocation. Like the sundew, the rainbow plant is a carnivorous plant of the genus Byblis, and also relies on glandular hair mucus to catch insects, but the glandular hairs of the rainbow plant do not move. Under the refraction of sunlight, the rainbow plant produces a brilliant rainbow-like glow.
These amazing carnivorous plants can not only use their leaves for photosynthesis to produce nutrients, but can also occasionally catch insects to supplement their nutrients. For them, insects are like tonics!
[Recommended Reading]