Have you ever seen a plant that traps insects? Even though I do not understand plant physiology, my husband does and he has told me about some of them. So I went to his office to find out more. He said there are certain kinds of plants that are particularly good at what they do. We went through a plant handbook that has about 200 pages of information about certain kinds of plants and their various uses, and I read about carnivorous plants which trap insects.
The best known carnivorous plant is the white fly trap (Anethum prostrate). There are several species of flies that can be killed by an anthem. One species in particular, the red-tailed flytrap, can be found growing wild across most of southwest Ohio.
What makes this plant so good at trapping insects? It traps tiny fly larvae which hatch into very small flies which can do a great deal of damage to plants. A plant like the white fly trap, if we did not remove all the adult flies, would probably cause quite a bit of damage. The tiny adult fly larvae need a moist environment to grow and this will provide plenty of moisture for them to feed on. A huge amount of moisture could also cause the roots of the plant to rot.
All of us realize that the plant world is filled with predators. In nature, plants get hit by predators from all kinds of different animals. Insects are usually too small to be of any harm to plants. However, when you have a plant that traps insects, this means that it is a predator itself, and will want to eat whatever it can get its hand on. That means that sometimes a plant like the fly trap will start to kill other plants in the area.
This plant is called the ladybug eater. It traps ladybugs as well as other flying insects like mosquitoes. There are many different types of ladybug traps. All of them serve the same purpose: to catch and eat the tiny flying insects that are falling towards them in the air. However, they differ in the way that the capture the insects because some fly traps have backs that they hold onto with their claws while others have suction cups on their bottoms.
Many people think that if a plant has hairs on it, then it is a great insect trap. But they are wrong! Yes, a plant that traps insects may have hairs on them but that does not mean that they are any better at capturing the insects than ordinary flies. They may have more hairs than the flies, but they are no better. What they are is an excellent way of removing the tiny flies that land on them, but not a good way of capturing or eating the insects that fall on them.
The last type of fly trap is the fly swatter. These are usually made out of wood and are placed next to bushes, grass or weeds where the small flying insects come flying. Usually there are many of these around because there is no place for the flies to go. When you spot one of these fly swatters, just plant it next to an existing flower in your garden and the insect will just land on the plant and are caught by the swatter.
You should note that a plant that traps insects can be a beneficial as well as a harmful plant. The beneficial type do not harm the insects and do not harm the plant. They are best placed in places where there are other types of beneficial plants, preferably in places where there is not too much vegetation around.