Stiff hairs cover its lancelike leaves, but Roridula cannot move its hairs to trap prey. Instead, a strong glue on the hairs restrains curious bugs. Unable to produce its own digestive juices, Roridu la relies on resident assassin bugs to digest its victims. The bugs then secrete a nutritious substance absorbed by the plants' leaves. Call it vicarious carnivory.
Tentacles seize the abdomen and suffocate the cranefly befo re digestion begins.
The leaves of this species can have up to a dozen branches and reach two feet across, imitating a large spider's web. The author has watche d unwary visitors to his nursery startle as they brush against a massive staghor n sundew. In minutes, the tentacles, or stalk glands, bend around the victim like a clenching fist. Then an acidic juice from the glands liquefies the insect's soft parts, and the glands slurp up the nutritious soup. The spiky leaves of this sundew can reach a length of two feet.