search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
The sight of a lion stalking a zebra, or a spider ensnaring a fly, are common and dramatic examples of the struggle for survival in nature.


In contrast, it’s easy to overlook the fact that some plants are also successful ‘predators’, consuming a range of insects and even larger animals to provide them with key nutrients. In addition, the tricks used by these carnivorous plants can often be intricate and downright deceptive. Probably the most familiar is the Venus flytrap. These


fascinating plants wait for an unsuspecting fly to land, triggering special hairs inside the traps, causing them to snap shut and encase the fly inside to be digested. The fly, however, does not simply land there by chance. It is lured by smells produced by the Venus flytrap that mimic the odours of food. The fly follows these odours expecting a meal, or somewhere to lay its eggs, but instead becomes the hunted. The insides of Venus flytraps are sometimes also red in colour, a visual feature that often attracts insects, luring them to the danger zone of the plant. It’s for this same reason that the sticky parts of sundew plants are also red. The measures that carnivorous plants go to in order


to capture their prey are varied, and often extremely refined. In 1875, Charles Darwin published Insectivorous Plants, a book all about these fascinating organisms, including how they ensnare their prey. He spent considerable time studying their ways and conducting


9 Photo: Claire Braithwaite


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32