Flies are not safe anywhere in the world. When this fly in the boggy swamps of North America settles on a leaf of the plant called Venus Flytrap the two halves of the leaf immeadiately snap shut, trapping the fly. The leaf re-opens only when the fly has been eaten. The Pitcher plant is another plant that catches insects. The sweet smell of the Pitcher attracts the insect. The red colour of the inner wall of the Pitcher too looks inviting. The insect walks inside. But the next moment the poor creature slides helplessly down the slippery wall of the Pitcher.When it touches the bottom, the juices there help the plant to digest the insect and use it up as food.
The Bladderwort has a slightly different method of trapping its prey. This plant which grows in ponds has tiny sacs called bladders growing on its roots. In the pond there lives a tiny water creature called Daphnia, which looks very much like the bladder of the Bladderwort. The Daphnia goes up to the bladder, taking it to be one of its friends. But the moment it touches the bladder, a trapdoor opens inwards and the Daphnia is swept in with the water that rushes into the bladder. Once the Daphnia is inside, the trapdoor closes and the Bladderwort proceeds to digest the creature it has caught.
Perhaps the Daphnia could have got away if it had been more alert but this fly about to settle on a Sundew plant has very little chance of escaping. The plant has button-tipped hairlike growths on its leaves. These buttons are sticky. As the fly struggles to free itself the other buttons close in on it. Then certain juices flow out from the leaf and the insect is dissolved and digested. Another insect-eating plant is the Butterwort. When an insect sits on one of its leaves the leaf curls up imprisoning it. The insect is then digested at leisure.
All these plants eat insects because they do not get enough food from the soil they are growing in.
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| Venus Flytrap |
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| Pitcher Plant |
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| Bladderwort |
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