Institution
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Date
THE HUNGRY VENUS FLYTRAP
THE HUNGRY VENUS FLYTRAP is a fascinating article about an insect-eating plant that grows in North and South Carolina. It grows in low nitrogen soil and therefore gets its nitrogen from capturing and consuming flies. This is contrary to other plants that acquire their nitrogen nutrients from the sun, water and soil. Samantha Buglover describes that catching flies is through luring them with a display of attractive red looking and lush center that makes the flies mistake it for flowers.
The article goes further to describe the events that lead to the capturing of a fly by the plant. It first detects the insect’s presence as the fly touches the flytrap. This causes the trap’s first hair to pop up, but at first, these hairs ignore the insect. This helps the plant to ensure that it is capturing an insect and no other things like raindrops. The second hair that an insect brush makes the plant capture it with its jaws by engulfing the insect. This happens so quickly, in milliseconds.
What follows after capturing the insect is a horror for the insect as it means its end. The events start with the insect being broken down and digested by the digestive hormones from the flytrap, which happens immediately the insect is captured. Once the digestive process is over, and the plant has acquired nitrogen nutrients it needs, the flytrap opens up in the subsequent days, with the excretion of the dry remains of what happened to be a fly. These remains are blown away by the wind, and the plant then waits for its next meal.
References
Heard, C. (1995). Venus Flytrap. Tessera. https://doi.org/10.25071/1923-9408.25027