Venus Fly Trap

Scientific Name: 
Dionaea muscipula
North and South Carolina, USA

These tricky plants move to trap and digest their prey, which are usually small insects like beetles, ants and flies. The Venus fly trap lures insects into its trap with a bright red color and a sweet nectar substance. Insects cannot resist the possibility of a tempting treat so they quickly investigate a dangerous Venus fly trap leaf. 

While they are walking around on the inside of the trap, they will touch some hairs. If two different hairs are touched or if the same hair is touched twice, the Venus fly trap leaf will close around the insect. The more the insect moves, the tighter the leaf will close around it. The insect is now plant food and the leaf will not reopen until it is done with its meal. 

It will take the Venus fly trap leaf 4 – 10 days to digest the insect. After the leaf has digested the insect, it will re-open showing only the skeleton of the insect. The insect skeleton will fall off the leaf and it will be ready to eat again.