Paragraph on “How do insectivorous plants catch insects?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

How do insectivorous plants catch insects?

The two pictures at the bottom of this page show pitcher plants ; so named because of their shape which is like a pitcher. Insects are attracted to the pitcher by the red colour inside and by a sweet-smelling odour — they probably think it is a flower. Once they walk inside, tiny scales which surround the sides stick to their feet. These scales prevent the insect from being able to grip the sides and climb out again. Sometimes, downward-pointing hairs also help to prevent the insect escaping. Soon the insect falls to the bottom of the pitcher, which contains juices that digest the insect and absorb the valuable nitrogen it contains. There are many different types of pitcher plant, some are short and fat, while others are long and trumpet-shaped.

On the opposite page below is a sundew. The leaves have special projections with sticky, button-like tips on them. When an insect touches one of the buttons, it sticks to it. The other buttons then close round, completely trapping the unlucky insect. The insect is then eaten by the plant’s juices and its nitrogen is absorbed. The insect-eating plants shown here all used specially modified leaves to catch insects, and the Venus fly trap (top right) is one of the most unusual insectivorous plants. The leaves form flat, hinged structures armed with projections on their outside edges. When a fly lands on the open leaf, it touches sensitive hairs which tell the plant something has arrived, and the two  halves snap shut, the spiny projections pre-venting the insect from escaping. People sometimes grow Venus fly traps at home, dropping tiny pieces of meat onto the insect-catching leaves and watching them shut. Perhaps the most interesting insectivorous plant of all is the bladderwort, which grows in ponds. Some part of the plant form bladders which look like a tiny water creature called Daphnia, which also lives in the pond. Daphnia thinks that the bladders are another of its kind and comes up to a bladder to investigate. If it touches some tiny hairs on the edge of the bladder, a trap-door opens, and water rushes in. carrying the Daphnia with it. Once inside, the trap-door closes and the bladderwort can digest the Daphnia at its leisure.