Elementary School
Cape Sundews Trap Bugs In A Sticky Situation | Deep Look
Cape sundews are carnivorous plants that grow in bogs, where they don't have access to many nutrients. So they exude sweet, shimmering droplets from their tentacles to lure in unsuspecting insects. Once their prey is hopelessly stuck, they wrap it up and dissolve it for a tasty meal.
4 DEADLY Carnivorous Plants
Here are four ingenious ways carnivorous plants catch their prey.
What's Inside A Venus Flytrap?
Venus flytraps rarely catch flies, despite their name — instead, spiders and ants make up most of their diet. When a victim walk by and brushes against a trigger hair on the inside of the trap’s modified leaves, it sets off an electrical signal. If the bug doesn’t escape within 20 to 30 seconds, the trap slams shut faster than you can blink!
You Won’t Believe What Pitcher Plants Charge In Rent
For carnivorous plants, Pitchers Plants sure do have a lot of friends.
Sundew: The Sticky Plant With A Killer Instinct
Covered in long, sticky tentacles, the Sundew is a predatory plant that looks like it’s from another planet.
How Venus Flytraps Use Trigger Warnings To Trap Prey
The Venus Flytrap is a predatory plant with a deadly trap.
Middle School
The wild world of carnivorous plants — Kenny Coogan
Venus fly traps, bladderworts and sundews, oh my! Learn about carnivorous plants and their predatory antics to lure, trap and digest prey.
How Plants Became Carnivores
How and why does botanical carnivory keep evolving? It turns out that when any of the basic things that most plants need aren’t there, some plants can adapt in unexpected ways to make sure they thrive.
The Carnivorous Plant That Feasts on Mice
While the carnivorous cravings of most flesh-eating plants are limited to small insects, one exception is the pitcher plant. It can consume anything that fits in its mouth—including a mouse!
Serpent of the Siskiyous — Darlingtonia californica
In late July, Sarracenia Northwest traveled to southern Oregon to document Darlingtonia growing in the Siskiyou National Forest. Darlingtonia californica is one of many carnivorous plants native to the West Coast. If you think that Darlingtonia grows mostly in the cool coastal regions of Oregon, think again! The vast majority of Darlingtonia grows in the mountains of southern Oregon and northern California.
High School
Glacial Stragglers
The panhandle of Florida currently sits at the boundary between the seasonal variability of the temperate zone, and the relative stability of the tropics, but this has not always been the case. When glaciers last covered North America, this area served as a refuge from the frigid temperatures further north for many species that now populate the eastern temperate forests. A few of the species, including carnivorous plants, took shelter along this coast never left.