Carnivorous Plants

A Venus Flytrap: It caught a fly with its leaves. You can still see the head of the fly

Carnivorous plants don’t really eat meat. However, they catch insects or small spiders, because there aren't enough nutrients for them in the soil. There are over 600 different types of these plants.

Carnivorous plants grow everywhere in the world, except for the Antarctic. They need more sun and water than other plants, so there aren't as many in the rainforest or the desert. They grow on earth that is too acidic or doesn't have enough nutrition for other plants, such as swamps. Otherwise, carnivorous plants wouldn't stand a chance against other plants, because carnivorous plants grow rather slowly.

Carnivorous plants have traps for small animals or insects. An insect then falls into a kind of hollow space made of leaves. It can't get out because the walls are so smooth. Another possibility would be that the plant has sticky places that its prey gets stuck on.

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