Chapter 31 Plants that Eat Insects
The bonfire burned for three consecutive nights, and almost all the flying insects that were attracted to light near the Teng Tribe were burned.
Thanks to the efforts of humans and various frogs, most of the wingless insects were also eliminated.
The insect plague gradually subsided, and the crops in the fields were preserved and continued to grow.
But Jiang Xuan knew very well that killing insects with bonfires was only a stopgap measure. If he wanted to achieve long-term and effective insect control, he had to think of other ways.
The insecticide was too complicated and Jiang Xuan couldn’t make it, so he had to give up.
He thought about it over and over again, but couldn't come up with any good solution.
Until one day, he found a dozen very special plants in a bush in an open area.
This is a kind of grass that looks like a purple gourd. They are about half a meter tall and purple-red in color. Their plump belly is filled with a liquid, but the opening at the top is very narrow. The skin and leaves are smooth and tough.
When you get closer, you can clearly smell the sweet fragrance of this grass, which attracts many insects to wander around.
"puff!"
When a flying insect flew over it, the abdomen of the plant suddenly contracted, and the strong pressure instantly sprayed out the liquid in the abdomen of the plant. After passing through the small hole at the top, the liquid flew very high and directly hit the flying insect.
The liquid was very viscous. After the flying insect was sprayed, its wings became stuck and it could no longer flap. After struggling for a few times, it fell to the ground.
The flying insect struggled a few more times on the ground, and then countless roots emerged from the ground, entangled the flying insect, and bound it tighter and tighter until the flying insect could no longer move.
This flying insect will soon become nutrients for these magical plants, allowing them to grow better.
Jiang Xuan carefully watched the process of the plant catching insects. He was surprised and said, "What kind of plant is this? It's so good at catching insects!"
Jiang Xuan observed it for a long time, then dug one up and took it back to ask Chishao.
"This is called water arrow grass."
Chishao took the plant and took a quick look at it, and he knew what kind of plant it was.
Chishao pointed to the belly of the plant and said, "When this grass encounters an insect, its belly will contract and spray water, just like shooting an arrow to shoot the insect down, so we call it water arrow grass."
"Where did you find it?"
Jiang Xuan replied, "There are about a dozen of them growing in the uncultivated wasteland. When I passed by, I saw it shoot down a bug, so I dug one up and brought it back."
Chishao returned the water arrow grass to Jiang Xuan: "Water arrow grass is a good thing. Dig it out with the roots, dry it, and grind it into powder. It can heal wounds."
"It turns out it's a herb." Jiang Xuan was surprised at this magical grass.
"Many plants are herbs. Knowing more about them can save your life at a critical moment."
"This is what the hunting team told me."
Chishao's expression was a little gloomy, obviously thinking of the Deer Tribe that had been destroyed.
Jiang Xuan patted Chishao's shoulder with an encouraging look in his eyes.
"I'm fine."
Chishao smiled at him, and her eyes became firm again.
She has a strong ability to regulate her emotions and rarely shows her vulnerable side in front of others.
"I plan to plant a row of water arrowroot in the middle of each vegetable plot."
Jiang Xuan expressed his thoughts: "I have thought about it carefully these past few days. If we want to get a good harvest of crops in the fields, we must get rid of insects."
"One way to get rid of the insects is to dig more ponds. Many frogs will gather around the ponds and eat a lot of insects."
"Another method is to plant various plants in the field that can actively capture insects, like water arrow grass."
"With these plants, bugs will be attracted to them and eat them as long as they are near the ground, so our crops can grow safely."
"In addition to eating insects, these plants can also be used as medicine. When needed, they can be directly collected, killing two birds with one stone."
After hearing Jiang Xuan's words, Chishao's eyes suddenly lit up.
Jiang Xuan’s plan sounds good and is highly feasible.
Plants that eat insects usually emit a very strong fragrance to lure insects over, which is much more attractive than crops in the field.
Using these plants to fight insects can perfectly solve the problem of insects eating crops.
"Sister, can you take me to find these plants that eat insects?"
"Of course, there are many such plants in the jungle. I just hunt them and don't go out of my way to look for them."
"Okay, let's go into the mountains tomorrow, call the stone loach, and go dig some insect-eating plants to plant together."
After Jiang Xuan and Chishao finished discussing going into the mountains tomorrow, they planted the water arrow grass, which had become withered after being dug up, in an open space in front of the bamboo house.
No words were spoken that night.
The next morning, Jiang Xuan, Chishao and Shiqiu took all their tools and entered the vast jungle.
The jungle in summer is very vibrant. All kinds of plants grow wildly in the jungle, and various animals are also very active.
“Gugugugu…”
A big bird, after encountering a human, spread its long legs and ran away quickly.
This is a flightless bird. Because its feathers have large red spots, the tribesmen call it the red-spotted bird.
The red-spotted bird has small wings but strong legs, so it can run very fast and move very quickly in the jungle.
"The red-spotted bird is very suitable for breeding. If the crops planted by the tribe can have a good harvest and there is surplus food, taming the red-spotted bird is a good choice."
The red-spotted bird that ran away didn't know that it, and its kind, had been targeted by Jiang Xuan.
Chishao and Shiqiu looked at the red-spotted bird a few more times. Although they didn't know how to tame it, they developed a strong interest in it.
Compared to farming, the tribesmen prefer to deal with wild beasts and birds.
The three of them continued to move forward, and Chishao specifically went to the lower and more moist areas.
As Chishao walked, he explained to Jiang Xuan: "The wetter the place, the more insects there are, and there are more plants that eat insects."
Jiang Xuan nodded. He knew that the larvae of many flying insects grew up in the water. Only when they grew up would they crawl onto the shore, turn into cocoons, and grow wings.
The three of them walked for a long time and came to a shallow wild pond.
Chishao's eyes searched the surroundings for a moment, then locked onto a plant.
"Found it, bamboo grass."
Jiang Xuan followed her gaze and saw a field of strange plants, about twenty or thirty of them, growing closely together.
This plant is very peculiar. It grows straight, and each node has a leaf. These leaves are curled and shaped like bamboo tubes.
When the wind blows, these plants sway with the wind, and the bamboo-shaped leaves occasionally collide, making very slight sounds.
"No wonder it's called bamboo grass."
Jiang Xuan suddenly realized that this name was really descriptive.
Jiang Xuan asked curiously, "Can this bamboo grass also catch insects?"
"Yes!" Chishao pointed at one of the bamboo tube grasses and said, "Look."
Jiang Xuan looked at the bamboo tube grass and found a flying insect hovering above it.
“Buzz buzz buzz…”
The flying insect gradually approached the bamboo tube grass and flew into the "bamboo tube", greedily absorbing the sweet nectar secreted from the inner wall.
“Bang!”
Suddenly, a lid appeared on the "bamboo tube", trapping the flying insect inside. When the flying insect wanted to escape, it was too late.
It turns out that there is another leaf in the upper part of the tubular leaves of the bamboo tube grass. It is usually tightly attached to the "bamboo tube" and cannot be seen at all without careful observation.
When an insect is attracted by the sweet juice and enters the bamboo tube, the leaves will quickly close like a tightly fitting lid, trapping the insect inside.
Not only that, the leaves of the bamboo grass will continue to curl inward until the insects are completely trapped to death, and then the insects will be slowly corroded and dissolved through the juice secreted, eventually becoming nutrients for the bamboo grass.
"What a powerful bamboo grass!"
Jiang Xuan witnessed the scene of bamboo grass preying on insects with his own eyes and felt it was an eye-opener.
At the same time, he decided to dig up this bamboo grass and plant it in farmland like water arrow grass to catch insects and protect crops.
(End of this chapter)
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