Скачать или смотреть General knowledge Quiz 💥🔥 For botany students

Plants that eat insects are called carnivorous plants, and they include famous examples like the Venus flytrap, pitcher plants, sundews, bladderworts, and butterworts. These plants evolve to capture and digest insects and other small animals to supplement the nutrients, especially nitrogen, that they cannot absorb from their nutrient-poor soil environments. They use various mechanisms, such as snap traps, pitfall traps, and sticky surfaces, to lure, trap, and then digest their prey with enzymes.


Examples of Insect-Eating Plants
Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is known for its jaw-like leaves that snap shut on unsuspecting insects, trapping them with interlocking bristles and digest them with enzymes.
Pitcher plants have modified, pitcher-shaped leaves that act as pitfall traps. They lure insects with nectar, and the slippery inner walls and digestive fluids at the bottom ensure the prey cannot escape.
Sundews (Drosera) feature tentacles on their leaves that are covered in sticky, dew-like drops to trap insects that come into contact with them.
Bladderworts (Utricularia spp.) are aquatic carnivorous plants with tiny traps that act like vacuums, sucking in water and prey.
Butterworts (Pinguicula) have leaves covered in greasy, sticky glands that attract and trap small insects, which are then digested.
Why They Eat Insects
Carnivorous plants typically live in nutrient-poor environments, such as wetlands, where obtaining enough essential nutrients, particularly nitrogen, from the soil is difficult. By capturing and digesting insects, these plants can obtain the necessary nutrients to survive and grow.