Why do pitcher plants eat worms?

Pitcher plant is the general name of all species of pitcher plant, is a tropical insectivorous plant, the origin is mainly in the tropics of the Old World, the structure of the leaf is complex, divided petiole, leaf body and tendrils, the bottle cap can secret fragrance to attract insects, the tail of the tendrils expand and reverse roll to form bottle-shaped predatory insects, let's take a look at why pitcher plants eat insects!

Why do pitcher plants eat worms?

Most pitcher plants live in environments with high humidity and temperature and bright scattered light, generally on the edge of forests or shrubs or in glades. A few species, such as apple pitcher plants, prefer to grow in dense and dark forests. most species adapt to grass populations similar to grassland species. The reason for eating worms is that pitcher plants originally lived in extremely harsh places and could only survive by preying on insects, which gradually evolved into its habit.

How do pitcher plants prey on insects?

The structure of the pitcher plant pitcher bottle is relatively special, the inner wall of the bottle has a lot of wax, very smooth. There are about 1 million digestive glands on the inner wall, which can secrete a large amount of colorless, transparent, slightly scented acidic digestive juice after the pitcher plant catches worms, which contains amines and alkaloids that can paralyze and poison insects. At the same time, there are many nectaries on the inside and edge of the bottle cap, which can secrete fragrant and sweet honey to tempt insects. When the bottle opens the lid of the honeypot, it will attract many gluttonous insects. As soon as the bug falls into the bottle, the cap will close automatically, and the insect will soon be poisoned and killed. Soon, all the limbs were digested into hogwash and the nutrients were absorbed.

What are the growth conditions of pitcher plants?

1. Lighting: light is one of the most important factors in growing large and bright insect cages, providing sufficient air humidity, medium soil moisture and sufficient light to make the leaves as red as red wine. The plant can be domesticated to accept some direct sunlight, preferably in the morning, whereas the all-day note darkens the color of the plant and hinders its growth.

2. Moisture: unlike other insectivorous plants, pitcher plants only need to keep the soil moist during the growing season. When planting pitcher plants, they need to keep the soil moist at all times. The matrix should not squeeze out water and be loose. Therefore, the way of watering will be more suitable for pitcher plants. However, the immersion method can still be used to supply water, but it is necessary to improve the air permeability of the cultivation substrate and increase the proportion of large particle cultivation substrate so as to prevent the cultivation substrate from getting too wet.

3. Humidity: the level of air humidity is the key to whether pitcher plants can produce bottles normally. Under natural conditions, pitcher plants usually grow in relatively humid areas, with a humidity of at least 60%. Therefore, in cultivation, many people always encounter the problem that pitcher plants can not grow into new cages, and the bottles often wither before they grow up. Pitcher plants do not grow cages, mostly because the environment is too dry.

Temperature: pitcher plants are distributed in a wide range of heights, from flat land to mountains more than 3000 meters above sea level. In horticulture, it can be divided into two categories: highland species and lowland species according to the distribution of altitude. Pitcher plants growing in mountains above 1200 meters above sea level are highland species. The cultivation temperature is 21 ℃ in daytime and 10 ℃ at night. Pitcher plants growing in flat land or areas below 1200 meters above sea level are lowland species. The cultivation temperature is 29 ℃ in daytime and 21 ℃ at night.

5. Nutrition: pitcher plants are insectivorous plants that already have the ability to obtain nutrients by catching insects or small animals. These insectivorous plants are very efficient predators. Pitcher plants do not need to be specially fed with insects. Pitcher plants grown outdoors can usually catch insects on their own. There is not enough evidence to prove whether regular supply of insects will make them healthier, bigger traps or more cold-tolerant.