Carnivorous plant has this special, tough and dangerous-sounding name for a reason. The carnivorous plant is a carnivore. No, this does not mean that you can feed your leftover meat to the plant. The carnivorous plant eats insects.
What kind of insects the carnivorous plant eats depends on the species, environment and size. The carnivorous plant lives on nitrogen-poor and nutrient-poor soil, from which nutrients can be extracted, but not nearly enough to survive, let alone grow into such an impressive plant. This is how the carnivorous plant came into being.
Types of traps
The carnivorous plant family has more than 750 members. Each plant has its own habitat, food and method of trapping insects. In fact, the carnivorous plant uses a trap that lures insects to then "trap" and digest them. The insects then provide the nutritional base that the nutrient-less soil cannot provide. There are several types of traps, for example you have a cup trap, a sticky leaf trap and a closing leaf trap. Read more about the carnivorous plant species and traps?
What belongs to the menu?
The carnivorous plants that are in your home or garden can catch insects, such as flies, mosquitoes, fruit flies, wasps and spiders. This is not to say that all carnivorous plants eat the same thing. For example, theSundew does catch mosquitoes, but the Venus flytrap does not. What a carnivorous plant can catch depends on the trap. In nature, carnivorous plants can grow much larger, so this also means that the plants can catch larger prey, such as small rodents or even birds. The Nepenthes Raja (Cup plant) was once seen catching a medium-sized rat. So this Cup plant lives up to its name "carnivorous plant.
How does the carnivorous plant lure prey?
The carnivorous plant lures its prey by spreading a delicious nectar scent and displaying beautiful / striking colors. The nectar scent smells delicious and sweet to the insects, in addition the beautiful colors attract the insects as the insects expect a "tasty breakfast".
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