Pitcher plants are found in areas where the soil does not contain enough food for most plants to survive. They use bright colours or sweet nectar to tempt flies and other insects into cup-shaped traps where they get stuck and drown in the liquid in the bottom. The insect gradually dissolves, releasing nutrients – food the plant can use to help it grow.
Plants that eat animals are called carnivorous plants. In the rainforests of Asia, Nepenthes pitcher plants have been known to eat frogs, birds and even rats.