Charles Darwin

Insectivorous Plants Charles Darwin

Book Excerpt: ...ner than other insects. The largest kind which I have seen caught was a small butterfly (Caenonympha pamphilus); but the Rev. H. M. Wilkinson informs me that he found a large living dragon-fly with its body firmly held by two leaves. As this plant is extremely common in some districts, the number of insects thus annually slaughtered must be prodigious. Many plants cause the death of insects, for instance the sticky buds of the horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), without thereby receiving, as far as we can perceive, any advantage; but it was soon evident that Drosera was [page 3] excellently adapted for the special purpose of catching insects, so that the subject seemed well worthy of investigation. The results have proved highly remarkable; the more important ones being--firstly, the extraordinaryFIG. 1.* (Drosera rotundifolia.) Leaf viewed from above; enlarged four times.sensitiveness of the glands to slight pressure and to minute doses of certain nitrogenous fluids, as shown by the movements...