Carnivorous Plants Glow to Attract Prey
There have been multiple carnivorous plants
found in the world and they all have different tricks to lure insects and other
animals into their clutches. Several
plants have been found to glow to attract their prey. For example, the pitfall
traps Nepenthes khasiana and Sarracenia
purpurea and the snap trap Dionaea muscipula
glow a bright blue. The
flesh-eating flora has special cells that help them generate the ultraviolet
hue. The fluorescence is quite alluring
to insects while it is actually invisible to the unaided human eye. To an insect, the
carnivorous plant’s glow probably looks like a bonfire at night. But to people
looking at the plant under a black light, it probably looks something like a
glow stick. It has been found
that the glow is actually a survival
technique. For example, carnivorous
plants most often grow in nutrient-deficient soils and have to catch and kill
bugs to supplement their poor diets.
The plants have a chemical structure
called conjugated double bond, and they have the ability to absorb light and
re-emit it. In the article they used the analogy that it is like moths
to a flame. The plants’ light is emitted as an ultraviolet wavelength tailored
to appeal to potential prey, including insects and other arthropods, the group
that includes crustaceans, insects, and spiders. Insects often can see
wavelengths that emphasize food sources.
The scientists who have found these plants
said that they might even aid in future breakthroughs. For example, fluorescent jellyfish
proteins are attached to specific markers, allowing researchers to study, for
example, how cancer cells spread. The carnivorous
plant’s glowing cells could potentially provide a new tracking method.
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/25/carnivorous-plants-glow/?source=hp_dl1_news_carnivorous_plants_2130227