AP PHOTOS: Hundreds of carnivorous plants on display lure in visitors in Colombia

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Visitors walk through a carnivorous plant exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Drosera madagascariensis sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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Drosera spatulata sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Drosera capensis plant traps an insect at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Venus flytrap sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Heliamphora sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A drosera capensis flower grows at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Drosera binata traps an insect at a carnivorous plant exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Venus flytrap captures an insect at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Nepenthes “Suki” sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Nepenthes alata sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Venus flytrap captures an insect at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Drosera binata on display at a carnivorous plant exhibit traps an insect at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Drosera capensis sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Nepenthes louisa sits on display at a carnivorous plant exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Nepenthes linda sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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A Venus flytrap sits on display at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

By FERNANDO VERGARA

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — With bright colors, deceptive shapes and sweet aromas, carnivorous plants lure insects only to trap and devour them. Nothing about them is accidental. Their beauty is the prelude to a deadly trap.

Carnivorous plants are found on every continent except Antarctica. They use photosynthesis to generate energy, like most plants, but they also trap and digest insects to get key nutrients — such as phosphate, nitrogen and potassium — that are often missing from the poor soils of swamps, bogs and tropical rainforests where they typically grow.

Hundreds of these captivating plants were on display this weekend at Bogota’s botanical garden in an exhibit called “Let yourself be trapped.”