Two newly discovered insect catching plants native to Ningbo

A close-up of the insect catching leaves, glandular hairs In summer night, mosquitoes are buzzing around your ears, which makes you sleepless all night Almost everyone has tasted this kind of taste Pitcher, thatch and flytrap, which are the insect catching plants read in primary school textbooks, are not far away from the citizens of Ningbo in fact The price of native caterpillar catchers in Ningbo, i.e thatch with spoon leaves and light calyx, was first discovered this year However, the summer home plant insects, mosquitoes will really reduce it? Experts told reporters that because the plants of insect catching plants are small, although they can catch insects, their function is limited The smallest diameter of the two kinds of Caesalpinia found on Xiangshan island is only 3cm The first one is spoon leaf Caesalpinia It was found on the rocks of Gaotang island of Xiangshan by Lin Hailun, a plant expert of our city, during the Spring Festival this year He said: "this plant is very small, the whole plant is bright red, growing close to the ground, and the leaves radiate from the middle stem, which is in a rosette shape, with a diameter of only 3-4cm It was found on the barren rocks and mosses It can't be found without looking carefully " Look carefully, there are dense glandular hairs growing on each leaf of this kind of thatch There is a small bead like viscous liquid on the top of each glandular hair, which looks as crystal as dew This is a magic weapon for catching insects In May and July this year, linhailun successively found another kind of maogao, guangcalyx maogao, on the fengmenkou scenic spot of Nantian island in Xiangshan County and on the rocks of jinqimen village Different from the spoon leaf one, the smooth calyx one is much higher, about 20cm in height Its appearance is similar to that of the common plant The difference is that the smooth calyx one is a crescent shaped insect catching leaf with many glandular hairs on its leaves This is the insect catcher of the smooth calyx one Next, linhailun found the trace of guangcalyx and maogao in zhangshui town According to the records, maogaocai, commonly known as the price of Cordyceps, is a kind of famous insectivorous plant, which belongs to the genus maogaocai in the family maogaocai It has 4 genera and more than 100 species, with the largest genus of maogaocai, more than 100 species There are 6 species in China Why do you choose to settle down on Xiangshan island? "I haven't found it in so many places Why does Xiangshan Island grow a lot of it? I think it's related to the growth habits of this kind of plants " Expert Helen Lin told reporters According to Lin Hailun, a large number of MaoGai are found on Xiangshan Island, the southernmost tip of Ningbo Compared with other places, the air temperature on Xiangshan island is high and the humidity is high Due to the underdeveloped root system of MaoGai, the moist coastal rocks provide a good growth condition for MaoGai If it grows in other places, thatch, especially spoon leaf thatch, can not adapt to the cold or the sun and other natural environment, and has no strong resistance to the harsh environment, it is not suitable for survival In addition, because of the underdevelopment of the root system, it lacks chlorophyll In the long-term evolution process, they have acquired the unique ability to catch insects to supplement nitrogen and other nutrients in the body, which is why they need to catch insects In fact, insect catching plants are very smart "Tentacles" can only roll up when they encounter living insects Since they are called insect catching plants, how does the thatched plaster catch insects? Many people will be interested in this question Linhailun said that the glandular hair of the thatch, which looks like dew, can secrete mucus with a sweet smell, and can attract insects to hook up When small insects touch the glandular hairs on the leaf surface, the mucus on the glandular hairs will stick them firmly When the insect tries to struggle, all the glandular hairs will be sensed, rolled up to surround the insect body, and transported to the center of the insect catching leaf, because the glandular hairs in the middle of the leaf have digestive function, after that, the nutrients of the insect will be transported to the plant through the epidermal cells of the leaf When the nutrients of insects are digested, glandular hairs will open again to secrete mucus, trapping new prey At this time, what leaves on the leaf is the insect's body, which is finally taken away by wind or rain So, how do plants distinguish between real and fake insects? Linhailun told reporters with a smile that the insect catching plants are very smart Scientists have done experiments and put the dead ants on the insect catching plants, and the thatched plaster ignored them If the dead insect is shaken up and down artificially, the glandular hair will move a few times, but then it will not move After research, scientists found that the difference between the simulated vibration and the real insect in amplitude and frequency can be distinguished easily by the cajole What is the effect of catching 10 plants in a month? Is it possible to put more plants to catch insects and kill mosquitoes and flies indoors? Linhailun said that the thatch will not take the initiative to catch insects It is a kind of "waiting for a rabbit" to trap insects by using the odor that the insects like secreted by the glandular hairs on the leaves "There are dozens of glandular hairs on a leaf of maogao Only when it comes to a living insect can the mucus stick it and digest it It depends on the leaves The number of leaves determines the number of insects But after all, the plants are small and the ability to catch insects is limited " In the process of planting, linhailun found that the ability of catching insects is very limited, and a plant can not catch 10 flies in a month Linhailun also found that the mucus of the green calyx and maogao is very sticky After digesting the insect, the empty shell of the insect's body is firmly adhered to the leaf, making the leaf look dirty, which also affects the adhesion ability of the leaf "But the leaves of plants are growing, and new leaves can constantly replace the functions of old leaves."