Flesh-eating plants are basically nitrogen thieves. The speed of their growth is limited by this invaluable element, just like all other plants. The difference is that plants that eat animals, like pitcher plants and the Venus fly trap, grow in places like swamps and rocky outcrops, where nitrogen in thin on the ground… or thin in the ground. They have to supplement their supply by stealing nitrogen from the bodies of animals. This is why some plants become killers.

Let me clarify that: this is why some plants become obvious killers. Scott Behie from Brock University has found that a far greater range of plants can inconspicuously assassinate animals by proxy. They partner up with an infectious fungus that kills insects