Here am I with my Venus flytrap “Dentinhos”, “Small teeth” in English.
What’s so special about carnivorous plants?
They’re different from other plants in the sense that they get some of their nutrients from animais they trap and consume. Mostly they capture small animals like insects but some species can in fact consume amphibians, mice, birds, etc. That’s why it is more correct to call them carnivorous instead of insectivorous plants.
Some plants species do trap insects to facilitate pollination and sometimes insects die but this does not make them carnivorous plants.
Relax… if it was an accident your orchid is not a predator! Carnivorous plants do no kill by accident. They trap victims because they want their nutrients and for that they have a mechanism to facilitate digestion of the prey. Obviously they’re just sitting there and cannot go on a hunting journey but they have some techniques to attract the preys, such as extra nectaries, bright colors and more. The trapping techniques are several and can be more passive, guiding the prey through a slippery surface into a digestive structure, or more active, trapping the prey with rapid leaf movements.
To keep one at home you should investigate a little bit about the species requirements. Generally speaking, carnivorous plants evolved in places with great amount of sunlight (not necessarily direct sunlight) and acid soils with nutrient deficit. To replicate this, you will need a luminous location and a soil poor in nutrients. Notice that you must use rain or destilled water, otherwise you’ll be adding nutrients to the soil.
Diving into the scientific knowledge…
…things get fuzzy. Apparently some carnivorous species are not responsible for diggesting their preys (bacteria are) and thus should not be considered carnivorous. Others can indeed trap and digest the preys but don’t seem to benefit significantly in terms of nutrient extraction. Some species need those nutrients to grow and others don't, but do grow faster when they have access to them.
To know more about Carnivorous Plants, try the following sites:
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/cp/WhatAreCPs.php
http://listverse.com/2011/06/09/top-10-fascinating-carnivorous-plants/
and finally check my Dentinhos having a snack!
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