Bladderwort is a rootless, aquatic plant that uses small sacs to ingest and feed on small underwater creatures, including mosquito larvae. These hollow sacs, which can be seen here, generate low pressure inside, and, when a tiny aquatic creature like a mosquito larva brushes up against a bristle, it opens the bladder, sucking in anything nearby and slowly digesting it. With over 220 species of bladderwort worldwide, there has been interest in recent years in using this plant as a biological control method for mosquitoes that spread disease. A study published in March 2024 in the Journal of Medical Entomology explores the use of the bladderwort Utricularia aurea to help control three species of dangerous mosquitoes in India. (Photo by Naufal Urfi Dhiya’ulhaq via iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0)
Utricularia aurea roots
Bladderwort is a rootless, aquatic plant that uses small sacs to ingest and feed on small underwater creatures, including mosquito larvae. These hollow sacs, which can be seen here, generate low pressure inside, and, when a tiny aquatic creature like a mosquito larva brushes up against a bristle, it opens the bladder, sucking in anything nearby and slowly digesting it. With over 220 species of bladderwort worldwide, there has been interest in recent years in using this plant as a biological control method for mosquitoes that spread disease. A study published in March 2024 in the Journal of Medical Entomology explores the use of the bladderwort Utricularia aurea to help control three species of dangerous mosquitoes in India. (Photo by Naufal Urfi Dhiya’ulhaq via iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0)
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