this animation was done as a request. a friend needed such a file for her presentation, but couldn’t find one on the internets…
animation: a venus flytrap (dionaea muscipula) closes
venus flytraps belong to the interesting family of droseraceae, which consists of carnivorous plants.
in order to attract prey, the traps are usually of a reddish color and contain nectar producing glands.
as soon as an insect lands on the traps and stimulates a one of the trigger hairs, the lobes are closed. trying to escape, the trapped insect further stimulates the inner surface of the lobes, and the plant starts to produce digestive enzymes.
in their wild habitats (bogs, wet svannahs), venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants find hardly any nutrients (especially nitrogen), so they have evolved to actually catch and digest insects.