MWC Eco-sweep: Bloodthirsty veggies

17. März 2026

Did you know the study of carnivorous plants is leading to potential medical and industrial breakthroughs? Or that many cultures use these plants to serve important functions in society? But how?

Most carnivorous plants live in nutrient poor habitats, especially ones lacking nitrogen. Different types of traps are used to catch a meal. Some are active and move (like a mousetrap), some are passive (like a glue trap), yet others work like a funnel trap.

Carnivorous plants use modified leaves to make traps. Traps specialize in catching & digesting prey and absorbing nutrients. Most carnivorous plants can produce food using leaves that photosynthesize, but those that feed on prey have the upper hand.

Carnivorous plants can acquire nutrients by catching microorganisms, bugs & spiders. Plants with larger traps may even capture small mammals, salamanders, or frogs. Once trapped, prey is digested using enzymes the plant exudes into the trap.

Butterwort (Pinguicula spp.)

Butterwort uses flypaper traps to capture prey. Only one species is found in the Upper Midwest, generally around the Great lakes Region. This species prefers wetlands or rocky habitats that are high in pH and encounter lake related spray, fog, or seepage. This photo is of a butterwort species that occurs in the southeastern US.

Butterwort grows as a basal rosette, has up-curled leaf edges, and sticky, gland tipped hairs on leaf surfaces to capture & digest prey. Some butterwort species self pollinate, while others require long-tongued bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds to pollinate their flowers.

Butterwort is rare in the Upper Midwest, growing in very sensitive habitats that are easily destroyed by foot traffic. Similar to other carnivorous plants, it’s sticky substance is antibacterial and was historically used to wrap wounds of people and cattle.

This photo is of a butterwort species native to the Southeastern US.

In Norway, bacteria acquired from butterwort is used to ferment milk called, “thick milk.” This milk resists curdling, lasts longer, and aids in maintaining healthy blood pressure levels. As with regular milk, fermented milk can be used to make many different goods, providing numerous options for consumption.

Carnivorous plants with active traps are triggered when they detect motion paired with chemical cues. This is how the plant differentiates food from non-food that enters the trap. Can you guess which infamous carnivorous plant uses this form of trap?

Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

The Venus flytrap famously uses snap traps. It is native to boggy habitats in both North & South Carolina, but is rare due to over collecting and habitat loss. The flytraps are equipped with very sensitive trigger hairs, which initiate the fastest triggering speed of any non-aquatic plant in the world.

Once the Venus Flytrap has captured prey it seals off the trap, then exudes enzymes to digest the prey, which releases nutrients. Each trap may be used a handful of times as new traps emerge from the center of the plant.

The Venus flytrap digested the soft tissues of the spider it trapped 17 days ago. The trap has opened and is in the process of dumping the spider's exoskeleton so it can catch the next meal.

Traditionally, Venus flytrap was used to treat cough. Research indicates that this plant produces anti-tumor and antiseptic compounds. Further research into this fascinating opportunity may lead to medical breakthroughs in wound treatment and in the prevention or treatment of tumors.

Sundew (Drosera spp.)

Six types of sundew can be found in Upper Midwest wetlands, all use passive, flypaper type traps. Sundew leaves are covered in gland-tipped hairs that hold droplets of residue to attract, apprehend, and digest prey - including mosquitoes. Sundew moves it’s leaves and stems to encase & digest prey caught by a leaf.

By observing sundew, Charles Darwin was the first to document carnivory in plants. Being the most prevalent carnivorous plant group in the world, sundew has historically been used to make a red dye for silk, to treat cough, asthma, & other lung ailments.

Research on sundew’s sticky residue lead to the creation of a synthetic, gel-like substance used to heal wounds & to aid tissue regeneration. Sundew’s cell signaling, antioxidant, preservative, antispasmodic, diuretic, expectorant, antibacterial, and anti-cancer properties are also being explored.

Pitcher Plants (Sarracenias)

North American pitcherplants come in many different sizes, forms, and colors with the greatest species diversity occurring in the southeastern United States.

Purple pitcherplant (Sarracenia purpurea) is the only pitcherplant native to the Midwest. It can be found in acidic bogs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and is rare in northern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Outside of the Midwest, purple pitcherplant’s range extends from northeastern United States down to Georgia.

All pitcherplants are pitfall traps that form secretions on the inside of the pitcher’s hood to entice insect prey to the trap. The insect then falls into the fluid filled trap and drowns. Downward pointing hairs within the pitcher keeps prey from escaping the trap. Some larger insects with powerful jaws can chew through the trap to escape.

The creation of digestive enzymes and proteins is energetically expensive for carnivorous pitcherplants, so novel ways to conserve them may have led to a mutualistic or symbiotic relationship with microbial and/or fungal communities within the pitchers.

The pitcherplant may serve as a restaurant for microbial and fungal communities, that in return aid in early digestion of prey. Once the pitcherplant receives chemical cues that microbial digestion has occurred, it dispatches its own energetically expensive digestive enzymes that are necessary for late-stage digestion.

The cooperation of pitcherplants with microbes may have led to the anti-microbial properties of the pitcherplant’s fluid, to ensure the microbial communities within the trap remain in balance with the plant’s needs.

The pitcherplant was traditionally used as a remedy for childbirth and as a diuretic. Tea has been made from dried pitcherplant foliage to treat fever and a cold. The plants roots have been consumed to treat smallpox, lung and liver diseases.

Bladderworts (Utricularia spp.)

In the Upper Midwest, nine species of bladderwort (Utricularia spp.) can be found floating in calm water without roots. As the name suggests, bladderworts form bladders, which are a form of modified underwater leaf. Bladderwort catches nearby aquatic prey, algae, and pollen by sucking it into the bladder using osmosis. As such, the bladderwort is the fastest moving plant known to man & catches prey as large as mosquito larvae.

Bladderwort forms symbiotic relationships with algae and microorganisms that help attract & digest food. The bladderwart’s trap benefits the microorganisms by drawing food in. The bladderwort benefits from nutrients released as the symbiants digest food and clear debris from the traps.

Bladderwort attracts bees by producing nectar rich flowers just above the water's surface. When a bee enters the flower, the flower closes around the bee to gather pollen the bee may be carrying, but not enough to entrap the bee.

Bladderwort’s noted ability to consume mosquito larvae lead to research on potential use as a mosquito biocontrol method. Under lab conditions, depredation of smaller, younger mosquito larvae instars was up to 95% within 24 hours of bladderwort introduction.

When added to stagnant pools of water on construction sites in India, researchers documented a 50% reduction in mosquito larvae abundance within 1 hour. Within 7 days, mosquito larvae abundance had decreased by 70%. After the 7th day of introduction, the bladderwort began to deteriorate because site conditions were not suited to long term growth and reproduction.

Historically, bladderwort was used to treat cough, urinary tract infections, and to dress wounds, especially burns. A better understanding how bladderwort’s traps use negative pressure to suction so quickly may lead to advances in biomedical & industrial applications.

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