The Plant which Traps and Feeds on Insects is
By Balaji
Updated on: February 17th, 2023
The plant that traps and feeds on insects is the Pitcher plant. It is a group of several carnivorous plants with altered leaves known as pitfall traps. The nectar from the plants draws in and smothers their victim. Flies, insects foraging, flying, or crawling are drawn to the hollow created by the cupped leaf, frequently by visual lures such as nectar and anthocyanin colors. When the pitcher’s (peristome) rim is saturated by condensation or honey, it becomes slick and attracts insects, who fall into the trap.
Table of content
-
1. Plant that traps and feeds on Insects
Plant that traps and feeds on Insects
The pitcher plant is a plant that traps insects and consumes them. Some pitcher plants harbor mutualistic insect larvae, whose excretions the plant absorbs and feeds on trapped prey. Pitcher plants resemble a pitcher, and a leaf covers the mouth.
Insects that fall on the plant’s mouth become stuck and unable to escape. Insectivorous plants are referred to as hunting plants. Frogs, insects, and even mice are caught and eaten by these plants. It contains a prey-trapping mechanism that traps the insects within and prevents them from escaping.
Key Points about Pitcher Plants:
The Nepenthean and Sarraceniaceae families are typically referred to as “pitcher plants,” however, monotypic Cephalocele and some Bromeliaceous species also use similar pitfall traps.
- Pitcher plants, also known as pitfall traps, are carnivorous plants with deep cavities filled with liquid as prey-trapping mechanisms.
- Visual cues like anthocyanin hues and nectar incentives draw flies and other foraging, crawling insects or flies to the cupped leaf’s cavity.
- The edges of the pitcher may be grooved or have a slick surface to prevent insects from climbing out.
- The prey is transformed into a mixture of amino acids, phosphates, peptides, urea, and ammonium through a digestive process, providing the plant with mineral nutrients.
- In areas where the soil is too acidic, mineral-deficient, or both for most plants to thrive, carnivorous plants can develop.
Related Questions:
- Whose Main Job Gives a Plant Cell Strength and Stiffness?
- Name any Two Steps that the Government has taken to Conserve Plants and Animals
- The Food Synthesized by the Plant is Stored as
- Why are Centrosomes Absent in Plant Cells?
- Which Among the Following is an Insectivorous Plant?
- What are the Elements of Weather and Climate?