UNIQUE PLANT - VENUS FLYTRAP?

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The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant native to the bogs and swamplands of North and South Carolina. It preys on insects with its uniquely shaped terminal portion of its leaves. The leaf has two primary regions: a broad flat typical leaf-like region called the leaf-base that is capable of carrying out photosynthesis and grows out of the ground, and the trapping mechanism, called the leaf-blade or lamina, at the end of the leaf that is composed of two lobes with hinged together by a midrib.  Each trap usually has between two and five “trigger hairs” on each lobe with three trigger hairs on each lobe being normal. The edge of the trap is lined with teeth or finger-like cilia that lace together when the trap shuts. The leaf-base and leaf-blade (trap) are joined together by what is referred to as the petiole.

The name ‘Venus’ is the Greek name for the Roman goddess Aphrodite, or sometimes referred to as “Dione”; hence Dionaea . The second portion of the name, ‘Fly Trap’, is obviously a reference to the plant’s abilities at catching insects.
Venus Flytrap was originally found within a 100 mile radius of the town of Wilmington, North Carolina.  Venus Flytrap have been successfully introduced in many places in the world.  It grows in acidic and poor in nutritions soil. So, it gets nutritions from its prey.It needs an open understory (the part of the forest below the canopy) to live.

On the upper portion of each side of the trap the Venus Fly Trap there are anthocyanins, which are little pigments that appear red or purple on the surface of the trap. This coloration is probably what draws in most insects. However, the trap also secretes mucilage, a type of protein. So once the insect has landed on the leaf, it begins to crawl around on the leaf surface lapping up the mucilage and eventually triggering the trap to snap shut. The trapping process can be divided up into four distinct phases:

1.    The initial snap
If two trigger hairs are touched or one trigger hair is touched twice within a short period of time (around 30 seconds), then the trap will spring closed within 10 seconds. The amount of time the trap takes to close depends on temperature, light, plant health, and other factor.

2.    The tightening phase
If the initial snap of the trap is successful in capturing prey, then the trap will begin the tightening phase. The struggling prey inside the trap will continue to touch the trigger hairs. This will signal the trap to continue to tighten its hold on the victim. If the trap is unsuccessful in capturing any prey when it closes because the prey was able to escape or it was trigger to close by a leaf, a couple drops of rain, or by a person sticking a finger or stick into the trap, the tightening phase will not occur, the trap will slowly begin to reopen and should be fully open again within a day or two.

3.    The sealing phase
During this phase, the teeth of the trap start bending upward and out in a way that they are no longer interlaced. The rims of the lobes just underneath the teeth on either side of the trap are pushed tightly together. Once the seal is tight, the digestive enzymes are released, drowning the insect and beginning the digestion process. The bigger insect or the older the trap, the longer it takes to digest. If the insect is too large or if part of it is hanging out of the trap, then a seal can’t be formed, so the trap will turn black, die, and fall of the plant.

4.    The reopening phase
After the digestion of the meal is finished, the leaf will reabsorb the digestive fluid. This signals the plant to reopen the trap. What is left is the exoskeleton of the digested insect. This is either washed out by rain, blown out by wind, or serves as a lure for the trap’s next victim. After several captures, the trap will stop working.



Source :
https://www.flytrapcare.com/venus-fly-trap-information

 Questions : 

 1. Which body part of Venus Flytrap can sense its prey?

 a. Digestive Gland
b. Petiole
c. Leaf
d. Trigger Hair
e. Cilia/hair

 2. Where was the Venus Flytrap originally found?

 a. South Carolina
b. North Carolina
c. Canada
d. West Virginia
e. Atlanta 

 3. These are the trapping phase of Venus Flytrap, except...

 a. The Tightening Phase
b. The Chasing Phase
c. The Initial Snap
d. The Sealing Phase
e. The Reopening Phase

4. These are the factors of the plant to close the trap, except...

a. Light intensity
b. Temperature
c. The amount of the water
d. Plant health
e. Size of the prey

5. What will happen if the prey is too large?

a. The plant will change color
b. The plant will live longer
c. The plant will live forever
d. The plant will digest its prey
e. The plant will die

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