Bug-Eating Plant Uses Raindrops to Capture Prey
Carnivorous pitcher plants use falling raindrops to force prey to their doom, a new study finds.
This finding suggests that pitcher plants are not merely motionless pitfall traps, but instead actively use rapid movements to ensnare their meals, the researchers said.
All plants can move; — for instance, sunflowers on a windowsill will turn toward sunlight. However, "people usually don't think of plants moving, because they usually move so slowly you need time-lapse cameras to see them move," said study lead author Ulrike Bauer, a biologist at the University of Bristol in England. [See Cool (and Gross) Images of Carnivorous Plants]