Are plants missing out on all the delicious foods that you and I enjoy? The answer is a surprising no for very special plants. You probably know that plants use the sun to undergo photosynthesis and generate energy. However, carnivorous plants are plants that also eat insects for nutrition because these plants often live in areas where the soil is not as nutritious as it needs to be. So, we now have these crazy, meat-eating plants like the Venus flytrap! Now, the flytrap is a classic that we have been hearing about forever. It is a relatively common plant that simply waits for animals to land in its trap (or mouth) after being lured closer by sweet nectar. Then, the Venus flytrap will snap close and digest the insect inside. Although the Venus flytrap is remarkable, an even crazier carnivorous plant is the pitcher plant. Pitcher plants come in a variety of forms, and no, they are not types of pitchers of water!

Pitcher plants are a type of carnivorous plant that lure in insects, trap them with their tiny hairs, and slowly suck them into their stem where poison lies. They get their name because, within the plant, there are special structures to hold up water like a pitcher. With this adaptation, the plant is able to do a variety of different things to the insect captured including drowning it, poisoning it, or simply digesting it. As they range in size, these plants can eat anything from ants, flies, wasps, beetles, slugs, and snails, to frogs, rodents, or lizards. Most pitcher plants look somewhat like calla lilies, but unfortunately, they do not live for very long. There is a wide variety of pitcher plants including the tropical, colorful, sun, and Australian.

Tropical pitcher plants are located on the border of Asian oceans. They typically hang down from a vine and are noted to be the most unique type of carnivorous plant. Pitcher plants can come in a variety of colors including yellow, white, and purple. The yellow ones in particular contain a poisonous drug in the nectar that attracts insects to slowly kill them. However, the white and purple pitcher plants are more standard and can often be used in gardens as the purple ones are much smaller and the white ones are very pretty. The last major types of pitcher plants are the Western Australian pitcher plant and the Sun pitcher plant. The sun pitcher plant is common in South America and is medium height. They carry a more unique and jug-like shape than the other forms of a pitcher plant. Meanwhile, the Western Australian pitcher plants are extremely tiny, in fact only about 1 inch tall. However, they are characterized by beautiful stripes in dark, contrasting colors.

There is an incredible variety of carnivorous plants, only a few of them being Pitcher plants and Venus flytraps. Their incredible ability to capture and digest insects is what helps them survive and makes them competitive in their respective ecosystems. So, what did the pitcher plant say to the waiter? You guessed it! Can I have a burger with a side of flies?