Volume 26, Number 4, April 2014
Weblinks
Carnivorous plants
Liz Sheffield
This document contains further reading and viewing for carnivorous plants (such as the Venus flytrap
— see BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REVIEW Vol. 26, No. 4, back cover).
For a superb overview of all carnivorous plants, access the following account written by Charles
Darwin in 1875:
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/1486
I’m sure Charles Darwin would have loved the following stunning footage on sundews from one of the
fabulous BBC’s Life programmes, which is relevant to nutrient capture, acquisition of nitrogencontaining compounds and digestion:
www.bbc.co.uk/nature/genus/Drosera#p005fq51
There are more excellent movies on the same site.
Sundew flower with damselfly
Some sundews are even more dynamic than those shown in the last link, and have snap-tentacles
which propel their prey to their doom. For a simple explanation:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120927091534.htm
and this free access journal article for more detail:
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0045735
Watch the mechanism in action here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDSmtZFr0_0
The best footage of Venus flytraps I have seen was in a BBC Life episode:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7eQKSf0LmY
but there is also some wonderful old footage (also featuring David Attenborough) from BBC’s Private
Life of Plants at:
Philip Allan Updates © 2014
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktIGVtKdgwo
This also has trumpet pitcher plants.
Venus flytrap
Another segment on Venus flytraps can be found here:
www.metacafe.com/watch/306194/plant_eat/
For a fascinating movie and explanation of how the underwater traps of bladderwort work see:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb_SLZFsMyQ
and
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110216110314.htm
Pain, S. (2008) ‘Gotcha!’ New Scientist Vol. 198, pp. 34–37 explains how some pitcher plants trap
prey:
http://tinyurl.com/mspvx4e
and watch the process in action here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya2ndp1OrPQ
Anti-adhesive layers are shown in scanning electron micrographs and explained in:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060114233206.htm
and some pitcher plants lure their insect prey with blue fluorescence — see ‘Fluorescent prey traps in
carnivorous plants’ by Kurup, R. et al. (2013), Plant Biology Vol. 15, No. 3 pp. 611–615.
Venezuelan pitcher plants use wettable hairs to ensure that insects slip into their traps, see:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121218203513.htm
Not all insects fall prey to pitcher plants, however. In ‘Ants and carnivorous plants conspire for
mutualistic feeding’ you can read about how some ants hunt for their own prey inside pitchers, thus
benefitting the plant as well as getting a meal:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522180304.htm
For a cost–benefit analysis for carnivorous plants relevant to nutrient capture, ecology, and food webs
see:
Philip Allan Updates © 2014
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www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914182615.htm
Pitcher plant
Discover more about what lurks inside the pitchers — relevant for digestion, enzymes and antibacterial compounds, see:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128120453.htm
and for more about viscoelastic fluid see:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071120201931.htm
And see how some pitcher plants use raindrops to capture prey:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613184007.htm
For some wonderful old footage, including time-lapse of pitchers forming, see this extract from BBC’s
Private Life of Plants:
http://tinyurl.com/lq6yjkv
Look at the beautiful range of different types of pitchers that can be produced at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8195000/8195671.stm
There is a hint of controversy about some of the research reported in the following accounts and some
nice additional experiments in:
http://tinyurl.com/po9upj
and
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804081545.htm
which might give you ideas for projects on pitcher or other carnivorous plants.
Philip Allan Updates © 2014
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