The jaws of death

Macro photo of the small leaf tip of a Venus Flytrap plant, photographed in my kitchen on November 1st.

"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