Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today were looking at carnivorous plants.

  • We see deadly plants in a lot of media, such as the movie and stageplay Little Shop of

  • Horrors, featuring the man-eating Audrey II.

  • Jumanji featured a fictional plant that erupted into their living room.

  • Videogames such as World of Warcraft and even classics like the Mario games all feature

  • plants as enemies, while the game Plants vs. Zombies features a whole roster of plants

  • to choose from.

  • While these plants seem completely made up, theyre closer to reality than you might

  • think, so let’s dive into what sort of plants exist in real life that are considered carnivorous.

  • In 1875, Charles Darwin wrote a book called Insectivorous Plants, which outlines his research

  • on plants that sustain themselves by getting nutrients from other living things, primarily

  • insects.

  • He spent a lot of time studying how much energy they spent to get their meals and how they

  • adapted to only responding to actual insects.

  • For example, the Venus Fly Trap doesn’t always trigger by false stimuli but has several

  • safeguards to make sure it only responds to actual insects.

  • So in terms of evolution, most of these plants evolved to absorb nutrients in almost a passive

  • way.

  • Zero energy expended.

  • The ones that do move or do expend energy need to retrieve more nutrients in return,

  • to justify the movement.

  • Let’s dive into the specifics, as the carnivorous plants are separated into five types.

  • The first type is categorized as Pitfall Traps.

  • Also calledPitcher Plants.”

  • This is a prime example of expending very little energy.

  • Theyve evolved to have a large pitcher or cup which is full of digestive enzymes.

  • The plant has colorful nectar on the lid but when insects land, they find it slippery and

  • they fall into the cup.

  • The digestive enzymes then break down whatever has fallen in, into nutrients that the plant

  • can use.

  • While they primarily digest insects, larger pitfall traps can even digest rodents and

  • reptiles.

  • There are many different types of pitfall traps, many of them evolving differently and

  • independently of each other.

  • Some types have suffered from water overflow, usually from rain, so have evolved to have

  • a sort of overflow lip that allows water to escape.

  • The next type of plants are called Flypaper traps.

  • These are plants that utilize a glue to catch and hold their prey.

  • With some of these plants, the glue holds while an enzyme breaks down the insect, like

  • the Butterwort seen here, but some of the plants actually move and respond, albeit slowly.

  • This clip of what’s called a sundew has been sped up to show what slowly happens.

  • All it takes is one nodule to grab on, then the rest reach around and catch the prey.

  • The third type of carnivorous plants are called snap traps and include what is likely the

  • most well-known on this list, the Venus Fly Trap.

  • Snap traps are usually divided in half, like two flaps that snap together when small trigger

  • hairs are bent on the inside.

  • So when an unsuspecting fly lands in, it triggers this snapping motion.

  • To compensate for things like raindrops, the plant must sense multiple triggers in a certain

  • timespan in order to actually snap shut.

  • There are smaller snap traps that live in water nicknamed waterwheels, which are much

  • smaller but snap shut much faster.

  • Causing these traps to snap shut for pure fun can be really detrimental, as it expends

  • energy in exchange for nothing.

  • So if you ever buy a Venus Fly Trap, please don't show off to your friends by making it

  • snap shut for nothing.

  • The fourth type of carnivorous plants are called bladder traps.

  • These are usually very small and aquatic.

  • These plants have trigger hairs as well, so when something touches it, it expands on the

  • inside, which allows for a rush of water to enter, which takes with it anything swimming

  • nearby.

  • So when something triggers it, the poor thing is sucked right inside, to be digested.

  • These clips are slowed down so you can hopefully see the effect.

  • The last major category of carnivorous plants are calledLobster Potsor lobster-pot

  • traps.

  • There isn’t much footage, since these are super small and usually focus on aquatic single-celled

  • organizations.

  • But basically, these plants are built like a trap, usually with inward facing prongs

  • that lead creatures, like these protozoa, right into their belly.

  • The prongs make it easy to travel in and near impossible to travel back out.

  • Eventually the protozoa get digested.

  • There are ways for plants to be multiple categories, such as the sundew.

  • While it has the glue that makes it a flypaper trap, it also features the movement usually

  • associated with snap traps.

  • Now let’s zoom out.

  • People have a morbid fascination with these plants, which has caused them to be widely

  • bought and sold.

  • You can find boxed plants in most garden sections of large shops, including venus fly traps

  • and sundews, labeled as "octopus plants" to be more appealing.

  • This is a fun investment, as long as you do your research for how to actually keep them

  • alive.

  • Since it takes them awhile to catch and eat insects, theyre not a solution to any sort

  • of pest issue, so make sure youre informed and educated before buying one.

  • So those are the basics of carnivorous plants.

  • Science fiction and fantasy stories may have embellished what theyre capable of, but

  • theyre still fascinating plants to research.

  • Hopefully this was interesting and thanks for watching!

Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today were looking at carnivorous plants.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it