28 
PLANTS AND INSECTS 
disease is proved many times, and we can not afford to neglect our 
fight against him. 
Above all, do not let flies get upon the food you are to eat. You 
certainly will not if you realize how dirty and dangerous they are. 
PLANT INSECT-TRAPS 
W E have all noticed Mother setting tangle-foot and planning dif¬ 
ferent methods for entrapping flies or ants. Nature is engaged 
in a similar work. We shall! mention only three plants, although there 
are many others. One, known as the Venus’ fly-trap and found in the 
Venus’ fly-trap 
moister parts of North Carolina, 
traps in a wonderful way and solely 
for the purpose of sustenance. It 
has been called by Linaeus, Nature’s 
miracle. 
, The leaves do the trapping. 
They stand half open, and when an 
intruder enters they close quickly, 
thus securing a victim, upon which 
they feed. Has not nature provided 
ways at which we must wonder? 
Another leaf-trapper is the sun¬ 
dew, which grows in boggy regions. 
It has a round, somewhat reddish, 
hairy leaf, covered with a shining, 
dew-like liquid. This attracts the in¬ 
sects, and when they light on it, they 
become entangled in its gluey sub¬ 
stance. And in the struggle for free¬ 
dom the little hair-like arms on the 
leaf clasp the insects firmly, while at 
the same time the plant issues more 
liquid, and the leaf edges close up, 
engulfing the unfortunate insects. 
The nourishment this plant fails to 
obtain from the soil it receives by 
digesting this animal food. 
