Venus flytrap

About Venus flytrap

• The Venus flytrap is a small carnivorous ​plant of the sundew family (Droseraceae).
• Scientific name: Its scientific name is Dionaea muscipula.
• Native to: It is native to a limited region of North Carolina and South Carolina in U.S.A. 
• It grows in nutrient-poor environments and supplements its nutrition by capturing ​and digesting insects using snap trap mechanism. 
• How the snapping mechanism works:
  • The plant uses specialised trigger hairs located on the inner surface of the trap. 
  • When an insect touches these hairs twice within a short period of time, the trap closes.
  • Closure can occur in as little as one-tenth of a second. 
  • When the trap snaps shut, the insect is sealed inside for digestion.
  • After the plant absorbs the nutrient-rich liquid produced by the digestive processes, the trap ​reopens, with the insect’s empty exoskeleton left behind.
• Findings of the new study
  • The researchers found that the trap closes because the cell walls on the outer surface of the trap suddenly become softer and more flexible (about 30–40% softer).
  • The trap is already under tension, like a compressed spring.
  • When an insect touches the trigger hairs twice, the cell walls soften, releasing the stored tension and causing the trap to snap shut in as little as 0.1 seconds.