Insectivorous Plants: Definition, Characteristics, Types of Traps

What are Insectivorous Plants?

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Biology defines the Insectivorous plants as the insect–eating plants. These plants tend to survive by the nature of deriving most of their nutrition from the insects around them. The salient feature of these insectivorous plants is that they have the ability to trap the insects flying around them and consuming them as their food.

Insectivorous plants

Another important feature of the insectivorous plants is that these plants grow in humid areas, that is, under the availability of ample amount of sunlight and moisture. Insectivorous plants are grown easily in the nitrogen deficient soil and this type of soil serves as an important habitat for these plants. This nitrogen deficiency is also one of the reasons due to which these plants trap and digest the insects in order to absorb the nutrients. The insectivorous plants are also known as the Carnivorous plants, similar to that of carnivorous animals.

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Insectivorous Plants: Characteristics

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There are certain important characteristics of insectivorous plants that eventually make them unique.

Nitrogen Deficiency

Insectivorous plants are grown in the nitrogen deficient soil which ultimately makes them lack the enough amount of nitrogen. Therefore, as a result, they tend to entrap the insects and digest them, considering it their food, to satisfy their nitrogen requirement.

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Attractants

Another important characteristic of the insectivorous plants is their colourful and the shiny texture. These plants are immensely beautiful in appearance which works as a bait to attract the insects. They often have nectars and a pleasant odour as well which also contribute a lot in attracting the insects.

Insectivorous Plant 

Wet and Damp Habitats

Insectivorous plants are found only in wet, damp and humid environments. The presence of acidic soil that is deficient in nutrients, such as swamps, bogs, wetlands, coastal plains, etc. is another important characteristic of insectivorous plants. For instance, they are found in the wet regions of North America, Australia, and tropical regions.

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Digestive Enzymes and Organisms

These insectivorous plants have the phenomenon of secreting a type of digestive enzyme that ultimately dissolves insects for better absorption. Some insectivorous plants also have some kind of bacteria or mites in their digestive tract that mimic the functions of the human digestive tract. They digest the prey for the absorption of the nutrients by the plants.

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Inescapable Traps

The defining characteristic of insectivorous plants is their inescapable traps. Many insectivorous plants have the special or modified parts of the plant for trapping the insects. The hair - lined edges are present on the mouth of insectivorous plants that consist of the characteristic of shutting the mouth as soon as the insect touches the hair, thereby, trapping the insects. The presence of the sticky mucus - like substances on the plants’ stalks allow the insects to get trapped there, thus, preventing any kind of movement.

 

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Insectivorous Plants: Types of Traps

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Insectivorous plants exhibit diverse varieties of physical features, such as leaves, roots, etc. The leaves of these plants are usually modified into the traps for the insects. The trapping mechanisms are designated as active or passive depending upon whether they move to capture the prey or not. So, let us see the different types of traps that are found in insectivorous plants.

Pitfall Traps: These traps contain a hollow leaf along with a lid that is filled with liquid to digest the prey. These traps are found in the insectivorous plant known as pitcher plant.

Snap Traps: These are the traps which are found in the Venus flytrap. They act by shutting their leaves rapidly as soon as the prey touches the trigger hair.

Types of Carnivorous Plant Traps

Flypaper Traps: Flypaper traps are the kind of traps which are again sticky in nature. The leaves in this case are covered in the stalked glands that secrete the sticky mucilage.

Lobster - pot Traps: These traps are found in the corkscrew plants. They possess downward - pointing hair that pushes the prey deep inside the trap.

Bladderwort Traps: These traps are commonly found in the insectivorous plant called Utricularia. The bladderwort trap simply uses a partial vacuum like structure that allows it to trap the small organisms.

Insectivorous plants digest their prey with the help of the enzymes and bacteria that are secreted by them. It facilitates the chemical digestion and absorption of the insects. The end products of this chemical breakdown are absorbed by the plants in the form of the nutrients which help them to survive under unfavourable conditions. The examples of these insectivorous plants are tabulated below for better and comprehensible understanding of the same.

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Things to Remember

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• Insectivorous plants are carnivorous plants that trap and eat insects via chemical processes to gain nutrition.
• Examples of Insectivorous plants include Venus Flytrap, Bladderwort, Pitcher Plant, Round leaved Sundew, etc. 
• Characteristics of Insectivorous Plants include: Nitrogen Deficiency, Attractactive features, Wet and Damp Habitats, Presence of Digestive Enzymes, Inescapable Traps, etc. 
• Mostly, the leaves of insectivorous plants are modified to create traps. Some of the different types of traps are: Pitfall traps, Flypaper traps, Snap Traps, etc. 

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