Meat-eating Plants.docVIP

Meat-eating Plants Sundews are beautiful little plants. They seem so small and harmless. All around the edges of their leaves are tiny hairs that glisten with a shiny liquid. To an insect this liquid looks like food. The insect lands on the leaf. The liquid is sticky, and the insect cannot get loose. The sundew wraps itself around the insect and eats it. Sundews are just one kind of meat-eating plants. These plants trap insects in different ways. Some, like the sundew, use their tiny hairs. Others, like the pitcher plant, have bright colors that attract insects. When an insect lands the colorful petals, the bug starts falling. The insect slides down into the slippery insides of the plant. At the bottom is a pool of liquid. Special chemicals in this liquid turn the insect into food for flower. Bladderworts are meat-eating plants that live mostly in water. Bladderworts have trapdoors in their sides. When an insect comes near the tiny hairs on a bladderwort leaf, the trapdoor opens. The insect is pulled inside. Some plants collect rainwater at their base. When insects go to get the water, they cannot escape. The plants are lined with a powder that makes it impossible for the insects to get away. A scientist named Durland Fish put four plants of this kind on the fence around the garden. Within eight days these four plants trapped 136 insects. 食肉植物 茅膏菜是一种外表漂亮的矮小植物，他们看上去那么小似乎没有什么伤害力。它的叶子边缘布满细小的绒毛，这些绒毛上沾着液体，看上去闪闪发亮。对昆虫而言，这种植物看上去象不错的食物。可是一旦昆虫降落在它的叶片上，叶边绒毛上的液体就会使其不能动弹。于是茅膏菜就用自己的枝叶把昆虫包裹起来，继而吃掉它们。 食肉植物有很多种，茅膏菜只是其中的一种。这些植物捕捉昆虫的手段各异。有些像茅膏菜一样，用它们细小的绒毛粘住猎物；有些则像猪笼草那样，用自身鲜亮的颜色吸引昆虫。当昆虫降落到它色彩鲜丽的花瓣上时，昆虫就会自行掉下去，继而滑进光滑的植物内部。底部是一个盛满液体的池子，液体含有特殊的化学物质，能把昆虫分解成植物所需的食物。 狸藻类植物也是一种食肉植物，它们大部分生活在水中。这种植物侧面都有一个活动的盖。当昆虫靠近狸藻的细小绒毛时，它的活盖板门就会打开，这样昆虫就会掉进去。 有些植物收集雨水，当昆虫前来喝水时，它们就不能逃开了。原因是这种植物上布满粉末，一旦昆虫沾上这些粉末就动弹不得。一位名叫德兰·菲什的科学家在一个花园的栅栏边四株这种植物，你知道吗？在短短八天时间内，这四株植物竟然捕捉了136只昆虫！ The Layer of Earth Do you have an apple at home? Ask an adult to cut it open. What do you see? The apple has layers. The top layer