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.