Meat-eating pitcher plants raise deathtraps to an art

Green carnivores hunt with scum and sweets

California pitcher plant

FANCY FRILLS  Scientists thought the red-veined forked frill that grows at the mouth of a California pitcher plant’s water trap was an insect lure, but now they’re not so sure.  

NoahElhardt/Wikimedia commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Tricking some bug into drowning takes finesse, especially for a hungry meat eater with no brain, eyes or moving parts.