Tropical Pitcher

The tropical pitcher is one of the largest animal eating plants in the world. They can be found in Indonesia, Malaysia and China. This plant has a nickname: the monkey curb.

That’s because monkeys often drink rain water from it. That’s okay for big monkeys, but small monkeys sometimes get stuck inside these plants and are eaten. These plants also catch insects and small vertebrates like mice. The plants in a walls make two things: a very sweet nectar and a wax. This attracts many animals to go inside of it. The sweet nectar retracts the animals and the wax slides them in and also means they can’t escape.

The animals are effectively stuck in Bain’s pit. After some time the animal passes away inside the plant and over time the tropical pitcher ingests the nutrients. This plant is so scary and at the same time so unsuspecting. Moving on, let’s look at an even scarier animal eating plant.

Cobra Lily

This is the Cobra Lily.

This plant grows in places with very bad soil nutrients. This means it has to get nutrients from other sources, like animals and insects. Its name comes from its snake-like appearance and the fact that it’s as dangerous as a cobra. It entices animals with a sweet nectar and it also has many false accents. This makes animals and insects think they can escape, but really they can’t.

The plant’s leaves are also partly translucent. This means any insect or animal unlucky enough to get stuck inside it will become very confused. Cobra lilies are very rare and those who have seen them say they look like something from an alien planet. Like other plants, cobra lilies absorb water from soil.

Water goes up this plant stem. The unique thing about this plant is it can regulate the water levels within. This means, if they want to, they can drown animals and plants that have got stuck inside them. This plant is very complex and kind of genius.

Bladderwort

Moving on, let’s look at the bladder wart bladderworts also eat animals, but it does this in a very unique way. It is the only predator that uses a bubble to catch animals. The underwater bubble and leaves have small surface traps.

These are called triggers.

When an insect touches one of these trigger hairs, the bubble forms. This pulls in its prey with water. These can only trap and ingest very small prey, but it does this at lightning fast speeds. It’s been called the fastest plant in the world.

Trigger Plant

If anything touches this flower, a trigger is released. This covers any insect in pollen.

This leaves the insect totally stunned. Amazingly, the plant can do this in 15 milliseconds. The trigger plant also produces mucilage. This causes any small insects to stick to its parts. Its leaves then produce enzymes, killing these insects.

Water wheel plant

They’re found in Africa and central and South America. Moving on, let’s look at the water wheel plant.

This is a carnivorous aquatic plant.It is called the most ruthless underwater plant in the world. It uses a trap to eat small underwater creatures. The traps are attached to the stem of this plant.

Both parts can slam very suddenly, trapping any insects or small fish inside it. This happens within milliseconds. Whenever anything swims near the trap, the traps behave like they have their own brains. When the small sea creatures pass away, all of the nutrients go to the plant.