Everyone knows that plants feed on substances removed from the soil (or other plants), they need water, light, and - most of them - heat. Many people know about the flower that eats flies, and for some reason, the bulk of them are afraid of it, considering it almost a monster. Meanwhile, predator plants are simply living organisms, placed by nature in such conditions that they had to survive in an unusual way. Rather, they deserve respect for their vitality and perseverance in evolution. Strictly speaking, the flowers that eat flies are on the same level, for example, with tigers, who are also not vegetarians. And besides, most of the plant predators are amazingly beautiful.
Why did predator plants appear?
To become insectivorous, the plants had to work hard and grow additional organs and glands during the evolution to produce the necessary enzymes. Without such a set, no plant could catch, hold and digest an insect. To maintain the health of this complex system, a flower that eats flies spends a huge amount of energy. Scientists believe that carnivores become justified only when the plant lives under completely certain conditions, because some insectivorous flowers have even lost the ability to photosynthesize for the sake of their hunting organs. Such circumstances are soils poor in phosphorus and nitrogen. Simply put - swamps. No wonder all carnivorous plants come from precisely such places. The loss of “solar panels” in this case is understandable: the plants do not shade, and they have enough light that they produce meager leaves.
Vulnerability of Predator Plants
The life that a flower leads that eats flies is not so simple in itself. The insect, not too successful and firmly captured, is quite capable of breaking out of the trap. And even if it dies afterwards, the plant predator will remain hungry. Plus the realities of civilization: in the modern world, it is precisely those qualities that have been developed for thousands of years that can destroy the flowers that eat flies. Nitrogen fertilizers washed off from the fields and discharges of power plants saturate the swamp soil with nitrogen, which kills plant predators. The second threat they cannot defend against is poaching. The demand for carnivorous plants that has grown in recent years has stimulated adventurers to search for wild veneres of flycatchers and sell them almost on the side of the road. Those copies that remained “in the hands” of sellers are indifferently thrown away. In addition to all these troubles, the result of land development is the disappearance of the habitat of predator flowers. So, it is quite possible that in the next half century they will remain only in greenhouses and home collections.
Hunting grip of sundew
In the vastness of our homeland, almost everyone knows only one flower that eats flies. Its name is "sundew." This is a surprisingly beautiful plant, pubescent with thin hairs that end with droplets of sticky secretions. Insects take them for water; an additional incentive to their approach is the smell of sundew. When the midge is firmly adhered, the leaf begins to curl slowly. Already in a folded state, he digests his prey.
How does a fat woman hunt?
Another flower that eats flies and is found in the Russian expanses is a paprika. She received a not very harmonious name for the mucus with which the leaves are covered. Thanks to it, the surface gleams as if greased. The mechanism of luring insects is by smell, the method of consumption is similar to how the sundew assimilates the victim. Only the leaf does not fold: it is all covered with digestive glands. So as soon as the mosquito sticks, it immediately begins to be absorbed.
Venus flytrap (dionea)
It is because of its way of hunting that this flower, which eats flies, is a tasty prey for the poacher. No other predatory plant closes the trap, and moreover, so spectacularly. Considering that the leaves along the edge are equipped with denticles, the hunt looks like a trap has slammed shut or wolf teeth snapped. Again, the digestion process is hidden, unlike the same gingerbread girl, so that nervous observers are spared from observing the "torment" of the insect and the need to sympathize with it. All these features made the flycatcher a welcome pet for many indoor crop lovers. A very large number of those who want to boast that he has a flower on his windowsill that eats flies. The price of some stops, but it cannot be said that it is already so excessive. On average, in specialized stores for a venus flytrap they ask 600 rubles; however, small copies can be bought and three times cheaper.
By the way, from predator plants you can get not only dionea. Nepentes, sarracenia, sundews, and other carnivorous flowers are on sale in the same price range.