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| Drosera regia Largest of its kind, the South African king sundew unfurls. Leaves of this florid species can reach two feet in length. While most plants have some defense mechanisms to enhance survival. . .some are real killers. |
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| Drosera stolonifera Thirsty bugs are drawn to what look like dewdrops on an Australian sundew, then find themselves entangled in sticky tentacles. |
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| Nepenthes lowii Carnivorous plants deceive, then kill. A tropical pitcher plant smells sweet to bugs, but its slippery surfaces tumble victims into its open maw. |
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| Dionaea muscipula A Venus flytrap snaps shut if its tiny hairs are brushed twice. |
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| Nepenthes alata Like figures in a shadow theater, silhouettes of prey show through a Philippine pitcher plant. The waxy surface in the red tube stops bugs from climbing free. Below, enzymes leach nutrients from trapped insects. |
Most carnivorous plants eat some insects for supper but need others to help them reproduce. Some carnivorous species, such as this budding sundew, can self-pollinate if no insect emissary can be enlisted.
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| Drosera sp. |
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| Sarracenia flava Sensing food, a roach peers into a two-foot-tall pitcher plant. Carnivorous species photosynthesize like other plants, but most live in bogs and other nutrient-poor habitats. Enriching their diets with nitrogen captured from animals helps them thrive. |
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| Sarracenia hybrid To avoid capturing and consuming prospective pollinators, pitcher plants keep their flowers far away from their traps via long stalks. |
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| Sarracenia flava Blooms hang upside down like Chinese lanterns, luring bees into an elaborate pollen chamber. |
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| Drosera regia (sundew); Pholcus phalangioides (spider) A glassy cellar spider contends with the glistening tentacle tips of a South African king sundew. The more the arachnid struggles, the more likely it is to become mired in the thick mucilage globules at the ends of the tiny stalks. When the spider gives up, either from exhaustion or suffocation, it will be conveyed by the tentacle to the leaf's center. There burning acids and enzymes will reduce its body to a nutrient soup easy for the plant to digest. |
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| Drosera regia Size doesn't ensure success. If a gluey tentacle grabs too little of a big fly, the bug may suffer injury but still struggle to freedom. In the realm of carnivorous plants some insects aren't digested but are still victimized. |
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| Heliamphora nutans (pitcher plant); family Lycosidae (spider) A wolf spider treads perilously on the rim of a South American pitcher plant, perhaps looking to prey on insects drawn to the plant's strong nectar scent. |
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| Pinguicula 'Hans' Many of the world's 675-plus carnivorous species set passive traps. A bun-size butterwort bristles with gluey hairs that ensnare insects until digestive juices do their work. |
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| Darlingtonia california A pale green butterfly senses nectar and alights on a rare California pitcher plant. Also called a cobra lily for its bulbous head, forked tongue, and long tubular pitcher, it grows in mountainous parts of the West Coast and is an oddity among its kind. Although it traps prey in a manner similar to other pitcher plants, its leaves contain no digestive enzymes. Instead, it relies on symbiotic bacteria to turn captured insects into usable nutrients. |
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| Cephalotus follicularis The thimble-size west Australian pitcher plant has a taste for insects that crawl. Its guide hairs and cloying scent encourage ants to clamber into its digestive depths. |
Carnivorous plants lure some insects for prey but attract others for the more benign task of propagation. Heliamphora minor, which grows in the highlands of southern Venezuela, is one of the smallest pitcher plants in the world. Flower color and position signal to insects the blossom's degree of maturity. The white color of the upside-down flower here indicates its readiness to be pollinated, while its umbrella shape protects powdery pollen from washing off in heavy rains. The burgundy bloom to its left has presumably been pollinated. The green, horizontal blossom below is still too immature to benefit from insect visitors.
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| Heliamphora minor |
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| Sarracenia hybrid A water-filled North American hybrid tempts bees with the promise of nectar and a rim that looks like a prime landing pad. Carnivory is not the most efficient way for a plant to secure nutrients, but it is certainly among the most exotic. |
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| Sarracenia flava (pitcher plant); family Helicidae (snail) A snail makes solemn progress up the rolled leaf of a yellow pitcher plant. Some scientists think the stalk's squiggly vertical vein is a ladder intended to guide crawling food to the plant's mouth. Others say it's a structural reinforcement. Members of this skinny species can grow to three feet in height and tip over when overfilled with rainwater and the husks of prey. |
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| Sarracenia psittacina Lurking half-submerged in bogs and sandbanks of the southeastern United States, the parrot pitcher plant has an appetite for arthropods, ants, and slugs. Prey are drawn to nectar inside the hood and by light shining through a latticework of "windows." Needlelike, downward-pointing hairs line the interior, making retreat impossible—and directing prey to the plant's acidic depths. |
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| Drosera regia (sundew); family Gryllacrididae (cricket) A cave cricket is caught in the sticky clutches of a king sundew. |
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| Drosera regia (sundew); family Gryllacrididae (cricket) The trapped insect struggles to free itself. |
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| Drosera regia (sundew); family Gryllacrididae (cricket) Possibly injured but certinly fortunate, the cricket plummets to freedom. |
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| Dionaea muscipula Venus Flytrap Most famous and fascinating of all carnivorous plants, the Venus flytrap uses electricity to capture unsuspecting prey. When one or more of its surface hairs are brushed twice—an energy-conserving system that distinguishes prey from other stimuli—an electrical charge signals cells on the outside of the leaf to expand, swiftly warping the shape of the plant's thumbprint-size lobes from convex to concave and snapping them shut. The hairlike spikes on the end of the lobes, called cilia, then mesh together inexactly, letting small prey escape but trapping prizes large enough to be worth digesting. |