Scientists know more than two hundred species of mushrooms and six hundred species of plants that are able to attack, kill and devour insects, worms, and even small amphibians and birds. Why? They just want to get the nutrients they need, especially nitrogen. Introducing top 7 carnivorous plants and mushroomsluring and killing their victims in the ways that place in a horror movie.
7. Nepentes Attenborough
The shape resembles a huge jug (or toilet bowl), equipped with a hinged lid on top. On the inside of the lid, the plant releases sweet nectar, which attracts goofy - small mammals. They lick nectar and shit in a jug, and a contented plant processes feces, obtaining from it the nitrogen and phosphorus it needs.
6. Predatory mushroom
Three cells on a special gyne of this insectivorous fungus from the genus Dreschlerella anchonia form a tiny circle (0.03 mm in diameter). If the nematode worm touches a sensitive strip on the inner wall of the ring, in ten tenths of a second, the ring triples and captures the victim. Then, special hyphae emerge from the walls of the ring, which penetrate into it, release digestive enzymes inside and begin the process of digestion.
5. Pemphigus
The leaves of the plant are a kind of balls, the only hole in which is closed by a valve. The edges of the holes are covered with a water-repellent substance, which also contains sugar compounds that attract insects. When a careless insect touches sensitive hairs on the valve, it quickly opens and the victim, along with the flow of water, quickly gets carried inside, and the valve also closes instantly. The plant can only digest food. However, some types of pemphigus abandoned a predatory lifestyle, providing their bubbles for living with algae and zooplankton.
4. Fats
These plants catch their victims with tape analogs. Their broad leaves are covered with tiny hairs, and many glands on them secrete sugary mucus that attracts insects. The insect sits on a leaf, gets stuck in the mucus and tries to escape. The plant senses these movements and begins to slowly twist the leaf, while other glands begin to secrete digestive enzymes. The end is predictable.
3. Dewdrops
The leaves of the plant are covered with many villi with droplets of liquid at the tips. Insects land on the leaves to taste the alluring glittering nectar, and get stuck in the goo. The leaves bend to cover their entire prey. All this happens very slowly, the process can take several hours, but the victim is paralyzed by the alkaloid contained in the liquid and can no longer escape. Then the leaves secrete enzymes that slowly digest the victim. In this case, the sundew requires pollination in order to continue the genus, therefore the flower itself with real nectar is on a long stem. This is necessary so that pollinating insects do not fall into the trap.
2. Sarracenia
The shape and color of the plant resembles flowers attracting insects, but its upper part of the leaves forms a long, narrow container. The edges of the “jug” are covered with a slippery wax-like substance along which a careless insect slides down into a liquid that is a mixture of active substances. Its wings get wet, it sinks and sinks to the bottom, and there it is already slowly digested.
1. Carnivorous bromeliads
The representative of the tropical plant family, to which the harmless pineapple belongs, leads the rating of predatory fungi and plants. In some bromeliad sinuses of the leaves, they form peculiar jugs full of liquids, and the leaves themselves are covered with a layer of a substance that reflects ultraviolet light and attracts bees and other insects sensitive to it. The bromeliads also secrete nectar-like compounds. Insects land on an unstable surface covered with a powdery substance, lose their support and fall into a liquid, where they are digested by the enzymes secreted by the plant and the bacteria living there.
