Plantwatch: The insect-eating alpine plant that proves Darwin was right

Study shows Saxifraga candelabrum traps and digests midges – just as the evolutionary biologist predicted back in 1875 In 1875, Charles Darwin predicted that Saxifraga candelabrum , a small alpine plant, could eat insects.

Its leaves, petals and stems are smothered in tiny, sticky hairs and – just as the evolutionary biologist suspected – the sweet glue on the hairs can lure and trap midges before digesting them with an enzyme.

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