Venus Fly Trap

After completing a unit of learning about Plants, Daniel has been wanting a Venus Fly Trap. He is finding it a fascinating plant and for the first couple of days especially, I often noticed him sitting and watching as in this photo ... waiting to see the traps close with an insect trapped inside!




The Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant that lures their prey using a sweet smelling nectar. When an insect lands on the head of the fly trap, it will touch one of the many trigger hairs located within the jaws of the trap. Once triggered, the trap snaps closed, trapping the bug. The plant then secretes an enzyme which essentially 'dissolves' the insect, turning it into a digestible dinner. After a few days, the fly trap will re-open, to await it's next victim.

We agreed that he could drop a fly and a piece of worm onto 2 of the traps to see how it worked, but the advice from the man at the garden shop was that artificially springing the trap, (poking it with your finger), drains the plant's energy. If this is done too often, the trap head will become less sensitive and possibly die.

So far the plant has 'lived' in the cubbyhouse, then on an outdoor table, and now it is on Daniel's bedroom windowsill so he can keep a close eye on it. Interesting plant...and an interested boy!