Some plants have the ability to trap insects and digest them. Most of these plants are small. They are found in swamps or bogs, or in dry, rocky places.
There are over five hundred different kinds of insectivorous plants. Although these plants are green and capable of manufacturing their own food, they have leaves that can trap insects and small animals. These insectivorous plants even secrete a juice that digests and absorbs the animal remains.
Most of the insectivorous plants are found in five families of dicot angiosperms.
The bladderwort family includes common aquatic and amphibious plants, such as the bladderwort and butterwort. There are three families of pitcher plants; the common pitcher plant of the swamps and bogs of the United States and Guiana, a single species of pitcher plant found in the Australian bogs, and in the tropics a family of pitcher plants with elaborate and brightly colored pitchers for catching animal food.
The most highly developed of all the insectivorous plants are found in the sundew family, among whose members are many clever devices for trapping small insects.
Members of the sundew family include the sundew, the flycatcher, and the very remarkable Venus' fly trap.
Venus fly trap
