jupitersterrain four

Pitfall traps (pitcher plants) trap prey in a rolled leaf that contains a pool of digestive enzymes 

Flypaper traps use a sticky mucilage.
Snap traps utilize rapid leaf movements


Lobster-pot traps force prey to move towards a digestive organ with inward-pointing hairs.

utricularia traps suck in prey with a vesticula that generates an internal vacuum

pump ions out of their interiors. Water follows by osmosis, generating a partial vacuum inside



00.00 4.12.12 . 

a small opening, sealed by a hinged door. In aquatic species, the door has a pair of long trigger hairs. Aquatic invertebrates such as Daphnia touch these hairs and deform the door by lever action, releasing the vacuum. The invertebrate is sucked into the vestibule , where it is digested. Many species of Utricularia (such as U. sandersonii) are terrestrial, growing on waterlogged soil

A lobster-pot trap is a chamber that is easy to enter, and whose exit is either difficult to find or obstructed by inward-pointing bristles. Lobster pots are the trapping mechanism in Genlisea, thecorkscrew plants. These plants appear to specialise in aquatic protozoa. A Y-shaped modified leaf allows prey to enter but not exit. Inward-pointing hairs force the prey to move in a particular direction. Prey entering the spiral entrance that coils around the upper two arms of the Y are forced to move inexorably towards a stomach in the lower arm of the Y, where they are digested. Prey movement is also thought to be encouraged by water movement through the trap, produced in a similar way to the vacuum , and probably evolutionarily related

like a barbed tongue 

in Sarracenia minor: the operculum is balloon-like and almost seals the opening to the tube. This balloon-like chamber is pitted with areolae, chlorophyll-free patches through which light can penetrate. Insects, mostly ants, enter the chamber via the opening underneath the balloon. Once inside, they tire themselves trying to escape from these false exits, until they eventually fall into the tube. Prey access is increased by the "fish tails", outgrowths of the operculum that give the plant its name