Venus Flytrap

This is such a fascinating, carnivorous plant! Much smaller than my photo shows, of course, as this is a macro shot (taken in my kitchen, by the way!).

"The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Flytrap

David Attenborough looks at how this well known carnivorous plant captures its prey. This short video is from the BBC.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktIGVtKdgwo