Venus Fly Trap Facts

We presented these facts in assembly. We have answered nearly all of our wonderings!

1. Venus Fly traps are carnivorous plant. That means they eat meat. Like other plants, Venus' Flytraps get nutrients from gases in the air and nutrients in the soil. They live in poor soil and are healthier if they get nutrients from insects.

2. The leaves of the Venus Fly trap open wide and on them are short, stiff hairs called trigger hairs. When anything touches these hairs the two parts of the leaves snap shut trapping whatever is inside.

3. The trap will shut in less than a second. The trap doesn't close all of the way at first. If the object isn't food, e.g., a stone, or a nut, the trap will reopen in about twelve hours and 'spit' it out.

4. When the trap closes over food, the cilia keep larger insects inside. If you fold your hands together lacing your fingers like this you can see what the trap looks like.

5. In a few minutes the trap will shut tightly and forms an air-tight seal to keep the digestive fluids inside and bacteria out.

6. The trap closes around the insect and digestive juices dissolve the soft parts of the insect, but not the tough outside. The digestive process takes from five to twelve days. The trap absorbs the digestive fluid back into the leaf and then reopens.

7. The leftover parts of the insect blow away in the wind or are washed away by rain. The time it takes for the trap to reopen depends on the size of the insect, temperature, the age of the trap, and the number of times it has captured an insect.