TRAPPING MECHANISMS OF

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PITCHER PLANTS

 INSECT –EATING PLANTS
These strange plants are found all over the world. Insect eating plants
develop and grow in much the same way that other plants develop. They
require air, water, and sunshine in order to be healthy. However, they also
need certain minerals, especially nitrogen. Most plants get their nitrogen
from the soil in which they grow. But insect devouring plants are unable to
do this. They grow in warm, marshy places that contains very little
nitrogen. In order to survive, these plants make use of the nearest source
of nitrogen in their environment; the animal tissue of insects. Through
natural adaptation processes, insect eating or "carnivorous" plants have
become equipped with ways to lure or attract insects, trap them, and
digest them for nourishment! Because the nourishment supplied by insects
is so necessary to the life of the plant, meals cannot be left up to chance
alone! For this reason, carnivorous plants naturally give off a sweet odor to
attract insects. Lured by this odor, insects come to the plant and are
trapped by its leaves. The traps vary in kind from plant to plant.
TROPICAL PITCHER
PLANT$
AR E THE Y ?
WHAT
ti n g p e sts ?
1) Man ea
e c t e a te r s ?
2) Ins
) Po l i ce m e n ?
3
P a i n t e d ju g s ?
4)
 Of course !! It is a insect eater.

The pitcher plants prey trapping mechanism features a deep-cavity filled with liquid
Known as the Pit Fall Trap.

The traps are clearly derived evolutionary from a simple rolled leaf whose margins have
sealed together.
The pitcher is borne at the end of a tendril ,which grows as an extension to the midrib

The pitcher contains a liquid called sarapin

The insect is drowned & digested in the liquid

Sometimes ,if the pitcher plant is big ,it enjoys a meal of small mammals &
reptiles
The pitcher plants other names are monkey cups ,eve cups ,fly
catcher ,water cup ,huntsman cup etc.
 COBRA LILY
Darlingtonia californica , also called the California Pitcher plant
, Cobra Lily, or Cobra Plant, is a carnivorous plant, the sole member of
the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae. It is native to 
Northern California and Oregon, growing in bogs and seeps with cold
running water. This plant is designated as uncommon due to its rarity in
the field.
This carnivorous plant lures its insect prey with a
sweet smell which is inside the leaf opening. Once
inside, the insect becomes confused by the many
areas that look like exits. As the insect checks these
false exits searching for an escape place, it is led
down the tube structure and is unable to return to
the top of the plant because of the slippery smooth
surface of the inner tube and the sharp, downward
pointing hairs which block any chance of escape.
Eventually, the insects will fall into a pool of liquid
digestive acids in the base of the leaf.

Insects are doomed

when the cobra lily
strikes!
 Water wheel plant
Aldrovanda vesiculosa, known as the waterwheel plant, is the
sole extant species in the flowering plant genus Aldrovanda of
the family Droseraceae. This plant feeds on small aquatic
invertebrates using traps very similar to those of the
Venus Flytrap. The traps are arranged in whorls around a
central, free-floating stem, hence the common name. This
plant is one of few plants capable of rapid plant movement.
While the genus Aldrovanda is monotypic, extinct species are
known to have existed. There is also wide variability among
populations of significantly different geographic locations, as
the species is found natively on four continents.
The actual traps consist of two lobes which fold together to form a snap-
trap similar to that of the Venus fly trap, except that they are smaller and
underwater. These traps, which are twisted so that the trap openings
point outward, are lined on the inside by a fine coating of trigger hairs,
snapping shut in response to contact with aquatic invertebrates and
trapping them. The closing of this trap takes a mere 10-20 milliseconds,
making it one of the fastest examples of plant movement in the kingdom.
This trapping is only possible in warm conditions (20 °C).Each trap is
surrounded by between four and six 6–8 mm long bristles which prevent
triggering of traps by debris in the water.
 NORTH AMERICAN PITCHER PLANT
Sarracenia, or North American pitcher plants, are native
throughout the east coast, from northern Florida through the
New England states and the eastern provinces of Canada. These
plants get their name from their pitcher-shaped leaves. They
capture insects by producing nectar along the rim of their
pitchers. When an insect starts to lick up the nectar, it tries to get
more by reaching in the pitcher. When it loses its footing, it falls
straight in!
The inside walls of the pitcher are very smooth, so
insects are not able to crawl out. They also can't fly
out because there isn't any airlift! Eventually the
insect dies from heat exhaustion or dehydration. As
the insect decomposes, the plant absorbs its nutrients
right through its leaves.
 THE END!!

MADE BY: AMOGH, PRATINAVa , ADITYA, JAIKUNWAR,

arjun