Page 11 - World of Animals - Deadly Predators

Surprising predators

Venus flytraps only grow
naturally in the bogs of
North and South Carolina

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Venus fly trap
4> Probably one of the most well-
known is the Venus fly trap, the
carnivorous plant that sets a ‘spring-
loaded’ trap for unsuspecting insects.
Looking rather like a natural-world
bear trap, the modified leaves have
trigger hairs all around the external
edge. Once these are touched the
leaf will close, snapping together and
trapping whatever is inside. Digestive
glands within the leaf will then get to
work, breaking down the quarry and
extracting valuable nutrients.

A deadly maze
3> Another ingenious 5
evolutionary adaptation
used by carnivorous
plants like the group
known as ‘corkscrew
plants’ is the lobster-
pot trap. Once the prey
is ensnared, there’s no
way out. These plants
live in damp, boggy
ground, and although
their leaves look rather
ordinary at the surface,
below ground there is
no root system. Instead
they have a series of
modified leaf structures
that form little twisted Bladderworts use suction
to capture their small prey
tubes. Once tiny
invertebrates enter
these tubes, directional Utricularia
hairs stop them from 5> The ‘bladder trap’ is employed by a specific group of plants: the bladderworts.
retreating and they This group has numerous species which live on land and in water, but they all catch
have no choice but to live prey using special sacks, or ‘bladders’, that are found near their roots. The
follow the corkscrewing pressure inside the bladder is lower than that outside and the opening features
tunnel – a one-way a small flap which, when triggered by a small animal, will open and release the
street to the plant’s pressure quickly. This instant pressure change will suck the tiny critter into the
digestive chamber. bladder, making it a meal for the plant.

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