What happens when a Sudnew captures an insect

[kentosaurs]

The threads below have been moved from Some petiolaris complex plants thread.


Hi Cindy

Thanks for the info..................Well not sure if anyone does realise this or not but probally because of photography i see that the drysdale has a much tinner "leaf" compared to the typical form.Well mine is so far still red i guess since it recives direct sunlight for some part of the day.I have so far fed it twice for the fun of it.I just fed one just now.The first ant i fed to it....Well it got stuck there was moving a little but after a couple of minutes it died....When i went out and came back the ant was somehow draged into the middle of the trap...And now its just a tiny black dot in the middle of the trap...Just wanna ask what every happens to them after being caught? I just started on droseras hehe....

Ken

[caseyhoo]

Kent, I think it is better you open a new thread regarding yours question. For quick answer from newbie - kchoo, dew from sundew have some enzime that will digest the insect. Thats all I know, for details, please open a new thread and ask, yea...

Cindy, you have a nice petiolaris complex!!! Hope I can grow them so nice.

Im ithcy hand to setup a indoor CP camber after seen how well drosera keep indoor!!!! After seen yours plants, and David's plants...

Originally Posted by kentosaurs

Hi Cindy

Thanks for the info..................Well not sure if anyone does realise this or not but probally because of photography i see that the drysdale has a much tinner "leaf" compared to the typical form.Well mine is so far still red i guess since it recives direct sunlight for some part of the day.I have so far fed it twice for the fun of it.I just fed one just now.The first ant i fed to it....Well it got stuck there was moving a little but after a couple of minutes it died....When i went out and came back the ant was somehow draged into the middle of the trap...And now its just a tiny black dot in the middle of the trap...Just wanna ask what every happens to them after being caught? I just started on droseras hehe....

Ken

[strath76]

Drosera have two types of glands on their traps. The first are the ones that you see with the large globs of dew on them. These are for trapping the insect. The tentacles that these are on are 'mobile'. This means that they can move. This is what causes the leaf of some species to move and roll around prey. They respond to the movement of the prey. When prey begins to struggle the adjacent tentacles move towards the stimulus to help 'hold' the prey. This helps ensure that the trap holds prey and also increases the surface area that is in contact with the prey. This helps in digetion as the glands responsible for digestion are held closer to the leaf and these are not mobile. Therefore if the tentacles that are able to move increase the amount of leaf agaoinst the prey the easier it is to digest the prey as more digeative glans are in contact. Hope this makes sense. Let me kn ow if anything isn't too clear and I will try and clarify. Cheers.

[edwardyeeks]

Sundews have usually two glands. Stalked glands produces the sticky glue that captures insects. When the insects land on the sundew, they become stuck and tries to escape. The more they struggle, the more stuck they become and slowly they will die out of exhaustion or when the sticky dew covers their breathing holes.sooooo coooolllll......

After that, then the sessile glands kick in. These glands produces digestive enzymes that slowly dissolve the insect that was ensnared. The result can be quite horrifying (but I think it is cool), sometimes, you can see the digestive enzymes drooling from the leaf of the sundew.

Retentive glands are special glands that makes movement. For every sundew, there are many different speeds of movement. Some like drosera spathulata moves only their stalked glands and a little of their tentacles. Others like drosera burmanii and drosera regia moves their tentacles in a dramatic way. Drosera burmanii can move its tentacles in about one minute...........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera

Try checking this link.

Cheers

[Cindy]

Ken,
Strath has about summed it up for you. What you observe with your paradoxa is typical of sundews with a round/oval leaf held on a petiole. With binata, adelae and indica and other more blade-like leaves, the way the prey gets stuck is slightly different.

edwardyeeks,
D. burmannii moves its tentacles in seconds!

[edwardyeeks]

Oohhh, really cindy? Wow.......the one I saw at youtube moved in only about one minute.

Cheers s

[Cindy]

Maybe what you saw is the entire process i.e. the tentacle moves all the way to touch the prey. A healthy plant takes about only a second to move its tentacle up. It's fun to feed the D. burmannii.

Is this the vid you saw?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC5th-GNe44

[edwardyeeks]

No. I can't find that video anymore. Seems like it is gone already. Sigh.......now I must wait for my burmanii seeds to germinate!

Cheers