Pitcher Plants have hollow leaves which hold water.  These plants gorge themselves on insects without lifting a finger. They are passive killers. They lie in wait, sinister traps poised. Insects enter a one-way death tunnel. Insects press forward only to find there is no escape! 

Sarracenia purpurea

Sarracenia minor

Sarracenia flava

Sarracenia "Cobra Nest"

Native to nutrient poor wetlands in the southeastern United States, pitcher plants use surprising methods to lure, trap, and digest insects. All are very effective, and a quick glance at the pile of dead insects at the bottom of any trap confirms this. Lures include sugary dews on the leaf surface, honey-lined leaf folds, and attractive red veins which lead to the trapdoor entrance. 

Some traps confuse their prey with clear windows near the leaf opening. Multi-faceted insect eyes cannot distinguish the real exit from the false exits. In confusion, or perhaps panic, the insects plunder deeper and deeper into the trap.

Urged further inside by one-way walls of spines, insects come to the water-filled ‘stomach’ of the leaf. Unlike pond water which bugs can walk across, this water has chemicals, natural soaps made by the plant, which break the surface tension. Insects sink deep and drown.

Other traps snare their prey with combinations of slippery, waxy lips at the edge of the opening, wicked downward-pointing needles that prevent escape, and treacherous pools of water. Visiting insects lose their footing, and fall in. 

Once its prey is dead, the plants prepare to eat. Powerful digestive enzymes pour into the pool. Soft parts of the insects dissolve in about a week. Special cells on the inside of the leaf absorb the nutrients from this insect soup. All that remains is a pile of empty insect skeletons at the bottom. 

Pitcher Plants are selective. While the leaves efficiently take life, the flowers support life! The large beautiful flowers attract and feed bees. By providing two of the things bees like most, sweet nectar and pollen in copious amounts, Pitcher Plants insure that the next seed generation will form. As bees exit the flowers, they transfer pollen to the stigma, fertilizing the plant so that it can produce new seeds.

There are many varieties of Pitcher Plants and many kinds of traps. Some plants are tall, others are short. Some have red stripes, other are covered with clear "windows". But all have one thing in common; they trap their meals by luring insects inside, and preventing their escape.