The "New" Carnivores

Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have recently discovered that some varieties of tomato and potato plants are carnivorous predators that capture and kill insects for nutrients. Their discovery has added 325 new species to all known carnivorous plants, and revealed that the number of carnivorous plants may have been underestimated by up to 50%. Unlike the venus flytrap, these carnivourous plants do not directly ingest their prey, but trap and kill insects with sticky hairs on their stems, and later absorb the nutrients through their roots once insects decay and fall to ground. This ability is thought to be an adaption to living in wild areas with poor soil.

Links:

• Tomatoes can "eat" insects via the Telegraph
• Beware the killer veg: How tomatoes are carnivorous and can trap insects for food via The Daily Mail

Thank you again to Claire Thompson for providing this write-up.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 PM on March 15, 2010