Jul 11, 2013 - Venus flytrap. Scientists have discovered that carnivorous plants attract their prey by emitting a fluorescent light, which shows that they have a ...
Plants which have a carnivorous side Author: Atula Gupta
Published Date: Jul 11, 2013 1:01 PM Last Updated: Jul 11, 2013 1:01 PM
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Venus flytrap
Scientists have discovered that carnivorous plants attract their prey by emitting a fluorescent light, which shows that they have a well planned method to ensure they get their dinner on time. Is the world exactly the way you see it with your naked eyes? Or does it have many hidden secrets that are right in front of you, but not apparent because they are invisible to the human eye? Our planet is in reality teeming with fascinating creatures, habitats and features that might not be visible but still exist. It is one such secret that Indian scientists have been able to discover recently which was hitherto unknown although it was in plain sight! They found that carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) attract insects by acting as blue fluorescent lamps! UV light is not visible to humans, but insects can see it and the insectivorous plants use it to attract their prey and trap it. Glowing Insect Eaters Pitcher plants and Venus flytraps have always been regarded as interesting representatives of the plant kingdom because of their unique ability to „eat‟ like animals. While other plants dig deep into the soil with their finger-like roots foraging into the buried treasure of nutrients, carnivorous plants have evolved to find nourishment elsewhere. It is believed that because they grow in low nutrient soils, the plants catch prey like flies, grasshoppers, insects and sometimes even small bats to satisfy their nutrition needs.
Scientists earlier thought that insectivorous plants attracted their prey, like ants and other insects, through their colour, smell and nectar. Most flowering plants in the plant kingdom do attract bees and butterflies in a similar manner — through smell and bright colour. It is a mutually beneficial relation where the bees get their nectar and help pollinate the flowers. But this is the first time that researchers have found another way to attract prey and that is with luminous glowing rings around the periphery of the capture spot of these carnivorous plants. “These distinct blue emissions were so far not known in carnivorous prey traps,” said research team member Dr Sabulal Baby. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting such strong and distinct fluorescent emissions in the plant kingdom,” he said. As the majority of insects and other arthropods can perceive UV regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, they see the glowing plant and get attracted to it. The experts say that for these insects, the blue emission looks like an attractive landing pad. Once they sit on it, they are instantly trapped. To test how important the blue glow is for these insectivorous plants to catch the insects, the scientists 'masked' the blue rings of Indian pitcher plants (Nepenthes khasiana) growing in the botanic gardens by coating them with a non-fluorescent extract. It was found by them that the plant could not catch as many insects as it could have earlier. What makes this magical blue light mechanism even more fantastic is that the blue radiance is also visible in low light therefore nocturnal prey can be easily targeted by the plants, including rats, bats and tree shrews. So we can see that these carnivorous plants have a well planned method to ensure they get their dinner on time! Bright World Pitfall traps and snap traps are some of the insectivorous plants the scientists found to emit such beautiful UV light. But in nature, inflorescence is not new. There are jelly fish deep inside oceans that glow bright green under ultraviolet light. Adults of any scorpion species naturally glow green-yellow or blue under UV light. It is the organisms‟ ability to absorb UV light and re-emit it that gives rise to this unique phenomenon. Scientists have been able to segregate the chemical and the genes that make creatures glow and also artificially induce other animals and plants to glow, for research purposes and more importantly to detect cancerous cells too. The discovery of the glowing insect catching plants only reaffirms what we have always known — nature is not just beautiful, it also has simple yet perfect mechanisms for sustenance of every life form on earth, big and small.
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