Plants & Human Affairs

Plants & Human Affairs (BIOL106) - Stephen G. Saupe, Ph.D.; Biology Department, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321; ssaupe@csbsju.edu; http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe

Death Trap (Carnivorous Plants)

Plant Matching: Match each of the following with the appropriate species.

a. Nepenthes	c. Sundew	e. Venus fly trap
b. Pitcher plant	d. Bladderwort (Utricularia)

1.		native to restricted area between North & South Carolina
2.		bog loving plant
3.		tropical species
4.	a. b.	pitfall type trap
5.	a.	fly paper trap (2 responses)
6.		snap-trap (2 responses)
7.	a. b.	grow in Minnesota (2 responses)
8.		aquatic

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. The traps of most carnivorous plants are modified from:
    a. flowers
    b. fruits
    c. leaves
    d. stems
    e. roots

2. Most carnivorous plants evolved to supplement:
    a. carbon
    b. magnesium
    c. nitrogen
    d. phosphorous
    e. sulfur

3. A Venus Fly trap:
    a. entices insects to land on the trap by looking like raw meat
    b. can distinguish food from non-food
    c. will close and stay closed when inanimate objects are placed in the trap
    d. has trigger hairs that must be stimulated for closure
    e. requires just a single trigger hair to be touched for closure
    f. all of the above are true
    g. none of the above are true
    h. some of the above are true (if so, give true responses:        )

Short Answer Questions:

Sundews have �flypaper� type trap in which leaf hairs produce a sticky droplet of fluid. Identify three ways that the plant entices an insect to land on the sticky where it will get entangled and die.
Pitcher plants trap and digest their prey in a vat of digestive enzymes.

    a. How does the plant lure the prey into the trap? (cite 2 ways)

    b. Once in the deadly vat, what prevents the prey from climbing back out? (cite 2 ways)
The seeds of Shepard's purse may be carnivorous. How do they trap their prey?

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