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carnivores plants use insects as there food Carnivorous plants evolved to exploit very difficult conditions. Often found in swamps and bogs where soil nutrients are scarce, carnivorous plants take much of their nourishment from the insects and small animals they trap. These plants flourish where others struggle to survive.For vigorous growth, all plants need the same basic nutrients--including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Swamps and bogs rich in decaying material like dead woody plants actually are nutrient-poor. Many essential nutrients become locked in the cycle of decomposition. In tropical highlands, the frequent rain washes most nutrients from the thin soil. Many dense rain forests also are built upon soil that is poor, with most nutrition locked away in mature living plants. All of these areas represent rich habitats to plants capable of digesting insects.

Insect bodies contain many of the nutrients lacking in the habitats of carnivorous plants. Nitrogen forms about 10 percent of an insect corpse, potassium accounts for about 3 percent, and phosphorus represents 0.6 percent. Many other essential minerals like magnesium and iron are also part of the reward of digesting an insect without waiting for the soil to claim it.

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Dean Mueller

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Do carnivorous plants use photosynthesis?

Yes, carnivorous plants do use photosynthesis to produce their own food, just like other green plants. However, they have evolved to live in nutrient-poor environments, so they have developed the ability to supplement their diet by capturing and digesting insects or other small organisms. This carnivorous behavior helps them obtain essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that may be lacking in their surroundings.


Why do carnivorous plants eat insects?

The question is not why these plants use photosynthesis, it's why they are insectivorous! All plants use photosynthesis, but only some of them live in such poor soil that they have adapted this unusual method of obtaining nutrients. Insectivorous plants get nutrition from more than one source. Insects are primarily a source of protein, and photosynthesis is a source of carbohydrates. Plants need a lot of carbohydrates, in order to grow.


Is the Venus Flytrap carnivorous?

Yes. When it traps a creature inside it's "mouth", it actually creates a stomach around it and digests it. Since it is not eating other plants, but it is eating insects, it is considered a carnivore. It adapted as such due to poor soil conditions in in it's native habitat.Yes, the Venus Flytrap is carnivorous. It is one of the few plants that only eat meat, and does not use photosynthesis as a primary source of energy. The Venus Flytrap mainly eats flies that fly into one of their traps.


Do pitcher plants live in the rainforest?

Pitcher plants are found occurring naturally in: Madagascar, New Caledonia, China, Australia, New Guinea, and Sumatra. As they are a common indoor "novelty" plant they are propagated and can be found all over the world


What is the family for carnivorous plants?

Venus's flytrap Most carnivorous plants eat flying, foraging, or crawling insects. Those that live in or around water capture very small aquatic prey like mosquito larvae and tiny fish. On rare occasions, some tropical carnivorous plants have even been reported to capture frogs, or even rats and birds (although these creatures were probably sick or already near death)! But don't worry, these plants pose no danger to humans, even if you fell asleep in a whole bed of them. Carnivorous plants tend to grow in places where the soil is thin or lacking in nutrients like bogs and rocky areas, so these plants must get some of their nutrients by trapping and digesting animals, especially insects. More than 600 species and subspecies of carnivorous plants have been identified, although some are now extinct. The Venus's-flytrap is probably the most famous. Just like other plants that need to attract other creatures to help with things like pollination, carnivorous plants use different strategies to attract their prey. Some are sweetly scented, others are brightly colored, still others have parts that are sticky or slippery or designed in a way that makes it hard for prey to escape. Once they have attracted their dinner, carnivorous plants use five basic trapping strategies: * Pitfall traps (like pitcher plants), in which the prey falls into a rolled leaf that contains a pool of digestive enzymes and/or bacteria at the bottom; * Flypaper traps, that use a sticky glue substance to hold onto unsuspecting insects; * Snap traps (like the Venus's-flytrap), where the leaves actually snap shut to create a plant prison; * Bladder traps, which use a bladder to suck in aquatic creatures; and * Lobster-pot traps, which use inward-pointing hairs to force prey towards the digestive enzymes. The Venus's-flytrap has long been an object of fascination (it even stars in a movie!). How does the plant move? Does it have muscles? Venus's-flytraps aren't the only type of carnivorous plant that moves, but they are the most commonly known. When something touches the trigger hairs on the edges of the leaves, the cells on the inside wall of the trap transfer water to the outside walls, so the inside essentially goes limp. This makes the leaf snap closed. Another way carnivorous plants move can be observed in sundew plants, which have a long flypaper trap. Once the prey gets stuck on the gluey tentacles, the tentacles embrace the creature by growing faster on the outside than the inside. And they can do this really fast. One species of sundew can bend 180º in only a minute or so! So once they catch their prey, how do these plants digest the meal? Most carnivorous plants make their own digestive enzymes. Still others depend on bacteria to produce these enzymes; the bacteria cause the captured prey to rot and the plant absorbs the nutrients. Still other plants rely on both their own enzymes and additional enzymes generated by bacteria. Yet another method is even more unappetizing. Some carnivorous plants use bugs and insects as helpers. For example, on carnivorous sundews, assassin bugs crawl around and eat the insects that have been captured. Then these bugs poop and the feces provide dinner for the plant! Yuck! Meat-eating plants have also captured the imagination of many writers and filmmakers. One of the more well-known carnivorous plant stories is Little Shop of Horrors, which was originally filmed in 1960, then made into a Broadway musical, with a second Hollywood release in 1986. This comedy/musical/horror film tells the story of a florist clerk who discovers an unusual plant with a unique appetite…for humanblood.

Related Questions

Why some plants use insects and called carnivorous?

Because they are called carnivorous . Carnivorous mean who eat grass or plants,


What do turtles use for eating?

Turtles can be vegetarians or carnivorous. Most have a mixed diet of fish, insects, shellfish, and water plants.


What do carnivorous plants do to their organisms?

What do carnivorous plants do to their organisms? Carnivorous plants use the dead organism that they eat to use for energy, to grow, and to stabalize their other "heads".


Do carnivorous plants use photosynthesis?

Yes, carnivorous plants do use photosynthesis to produce their own food, just like other green plants. However, they have evolved to live in nutrient-poor environments, so they have developed the ability to supplement their diet by capturing and digesting insects or other small organisms. This carnivorous behavior helps them obtain essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that may be lacking in their surroundings.


How do insects acquire their food?

Insects acquire their food through various methods such as feeding on plants, other insects, decaying matter, or by sucking blood from animals. They use their specialized mouthparts to consume and digest their food.


Why do carnivorous plants eat insects?

The question is not why these plants use photosynthesis, it's why they are insectivorous! All plants use photosynthesis, but only some of them live in such poor soil that they have adapted this unusual method of obtaining nutrients. Insectivorous plants get nutrition from more than one source. Insects are primarily a source of protein, and photosynthesis is a source of carbohydrates. Plants need a lot of carbohydrates, in order to grow.


Why doesn't a plant have to eat?

A very very few plants do have to eat. The carnivorous plants live in nitrate depleted environments (e.g. bogs, swamps) and they capture and eat insects for protein that they can extract amino acids from. But they don't use any other parts or nutrients in these insects. Animals must eat to get everything they need to live.


Is decomposer a carnivorous animal?

Decomposers use dead plants and animals as their food. Decomposers are not carnivores because they do not kill the animals; the animals are already dead.


What is the use of insects?

insects are used for pollinating and regrowing more plants.


Do all green plants makes their own food?

Yes, all green plants are capable of making their own food through the process of photosynthesis. They use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to produce glucose, which serves as their source of energy.


How do insects find there food?

Insects use antennae to find food and detect enemies.


Is the Venus Flytrap carnivorous?

Yes. When it traps a creature inside it's "mouth", it actually creates a stomach around it and digests it. Since it is not eating other plants, but it is eating insects, it is considered a carnivore. It adapted as such due to poor soil conditions in in it's native habitat.Yes, the Venus Flytrap is carnivorous. It is one of the few plants that only eat meat, and does not use photosynthesis as a primary source of energy. The Venus Flytrap mainly eats flies that fly into one of their traps.