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An upper pitcher of Nepenthes lowii, a tropical pitcher plant that supplements its carnivorous diet with tree shrew droppings. [1] [2] [3]Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds.
Many pitcher plants exhibit patterns of ultraviolet coloration which may play a role in attracting insects. [4] Some species, such as Cephalotus follicularis , likely use camouflage to trap insects, as their coloration matches that of the surrounding environment and the plants are often embedded in the substrate such that the traps are flush ...
Leafhoppers have piercing-sucking mouthparts, enabling them to feed on plant sap. A leafhoppers' diet commonly consists of sap from a wide and diverse range of plants, but some are more host-specific. Leafhoppers mainly are herbivores, but some are known to eat smaller insects, such as aphids, on occasion.
This list of carnivorous plants is a comprehensive listing of all known carnivorous plant species, of which more than 750 are currently recognised. [1] Unless otherwise stated it is based on Jan Schlauer's Carnivorous Plant Database Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine. Extinct taxa are denoted with a dagger (†).
The same tooth arrangement is however also suited for eating animals with exoskeletons, thus the ability to eat insects is an extension of piscivory. [3] At one time, insectivorous mammals were scientifically classified in an order called Insectivora. This order is now abandoned, as not all insectivorous mammals are closely related.
Three species have symbiotic relationships with treeshrews, which eat the nectar produced by the plant and defecate into the pitchers, providing valuable nutrients. [ 13 ] Nepenthes are insect-pollinated , the primary agents being flies (including blow flies , midges , and mosquitoes ), moths, wasps, and butterflies. [ 14 ]
Grist reports that roughly 30 percent of the world's population considers insects a delicacy or dietary staple.
Dionaea catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a "jaw"-like clamping structure, which is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves; when an insect makes contact with the open leaves, vibrations from the prey's movements ultimately trigger the "jaws" to shut via tiny hairs (called "trigger hairs" or "sensitive ...