Unusual Plant defense

Newly discovered plant defense not seen in other plants: Using dead insects as protection!

Generally when you think of insects in plants, it’s the insects hiding in the plant, right? This one is the opposite, kind of. Some plants use insects to help protect themselves. Usually they entice them with sweet nectar or sap that the insects can eat. Some prevent being eaten by stinging, like nettles, or producing a toxin, like poison ivy.

Aquilegia eximia, common names "serpentine columbine" or "Van Houtte's columbine", is welcoming to insects with a different plan. This plant, found in California, has a sticky substance that it secretes. This substance smells good to insects that want to eat the plant. When they land, they stick so they can’t move and starve. The dead carcasses of multiple insects end up stuck to the plant. These prevent other predators from eating the plant, making it a two fold defense. Stickiness to prevent active predation and the dead insects as a warning sign to others “Don’t eat me!”

 Plant coats itself in dead bodies to defend itself article

Original Research Article