Like insectivorous animals, some plants are also insectivorous. They are called carnivorous plants. A total of 400 species of insectivorous plants are found, out of which almost 30 species are found in India. These plants grow in places where there is a lack of nitrates, or they cannot utilize the soil's nitrogen. Protein is essential for life, and plants must get nitrogen to obtain it. For nitrogen, these plants feed on nearby insects. Following are some such plants.
1. Drosera-
This plant is found on the banks of ponds. This plant has about 25 leaves arranged in a circle. Each leaf has about 200 tiny sensory hairs, which secrete a shiny substance on the top and attract insects. As the worm sits on the leaf, mistaking it for honey, the sensory hairs become alert and begin to twist and grab the worm and drag it to the underside of the leaf. Now a digestive juice comes out from the leaf, which dissolves the flesh of the insects. Plants suck it up again.
On getting tasty insects, this plant eats more than necessary and then can fall ill. In such conditions, it stops eating for some time.
2. Bladderwort-
It is a rootless plant with delicate leaves, which are found floating in ponds. Some of its leaves swell and become sac or bladder-shaped. There is a door near the mouth of each pouch that opens only inwards. There are three sensory hairs on the mouth of the bladder. A worm floating in water is pushed inside the bladder as soon as it touches these hairs. The door closes, and the worm that is trapped inside the bladder dies. The digestive fluid now exploits the flesh of this insect. There are many tiny hairs attached to the walls of the bladder, which push the water out of the bladder, and the door opens again.
3. Venus s flytrap-
This plant is found in America. The upper part of the leaf of this plant is in the shape of two flaps, and in the middle, there are six sensory hairs on the part of the angi. As soon as the worm, wandering in search of honey, touches these hairs, both the Pallava are tightly closed, and the worm is locked in this beautiful cage. The digestive juice released from the glands absorbs this worm. When the worm is over, the cell opens automatically.
According to Darwin, it is the most amazing plant in the world. This cage does not close when touched by the tip of a pencil or with a finger, but it closes tightly as soon as the worm sits.
4. Pitcher plants-
The leaves of these plants are wholly or partly shaped like a jug, whose length has been observed from one inch to one foot. There are two types of jugular plants found in India:
A. Sarsainiya-
In this, the whole leaf gets converted into a jug, and it is filled with water. On the upper part of the jug, many hairs are twisted downwards. In the greed of honey, the worm sits on the pitcher and slips into the jar. When it tries to come out, the hair on the jug's mouth pushes it back inside. The worm dies by drowning in the water of the jar and is absorbed by the digestive juices. A jug of honey visible from afar is a death jug for insects.
B. Nepenthes cincta-
In this plant, the upper part of the leaf is shaped like a jug, and its mouth is covered with a lid. A fluid keeps coming out from the periphery of the jar, which attracts insects. As soon as it sits, the worm slips inside and dies there. The bacteria inside the jug rot it, and the plants then absorb it.
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