PLANT EATS MEAT: AN ODE TO THE PITCH PLANT - Arne Hendriks & Norbert Peeters

In this lecture, researcher and artist Arne Hendriks and botanical philosopher Norbert Peeters will take you into the fascinating world of carnivorous plants, which have stimulated the imagination for centuries. Charles Darwin played a crucial role in unraveling their secrets, as described in his 1875 book "Insectivorous plants". These plants have developed evolutionary adaptations to catch and digest insects, which gives them an advantage in difficult environments with few nutrients. Although around 1000 species have been identified worldwide, they are rarely dominant and mainly serve as a survival strategy. Also interesting is the evolutionary reversal in which some plants have become vegetarian again. The focus is also on Nepenthes pitcher plants in Southeast Asia, which were mysterious for centuries and were only understood in the 19th century by Darwin and Hooker as ingenious traps for prey animals. Many Nepenthes species appear to be carnivorous.