I always knew that venus flytraps are one of the most interesting plants of all time. Except I never understood HOW exactly they are able to sense prey on them. I also never figured out what happens to the prey once it's been "ingested."
However, this video plus some addition research helped me figure this out.
Basically, the prey lands on the sensitive surface of the open trap. If the prey isn't able escape, it continues to sort of "stimulate" the inside surface of the lobes, and this causes a response that forces the edges of the lobes to close together and that eventually seals the trap and forms a 'stomach' where digestion happens. Digestion is initiated by enzymes by the glands in the lobes. Digestion takes about ten days, and after that the prey is turned into chitin (nitrogen-containing polysaccharide; it helps build the cell wall). The trap reopens afterwards, and is ready to consume the next victim.
Tooooooo cooooooooooool ahhhhhhhh.
Woah, I never knew that.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, I always wanted to know about the life of Venus Fly traps .. lol :D
ReplyDeleteYou know - it is just interesting how the venus fly trap seems to be a link between plants and animals - being a carnivore and producing enzymes, and reacting to stimuli like that. How could that have even evolved?
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