The botanical/scientific name of the Venus flytrap is Dionaea muscipula. The Venus flytrap is one of the most well known carnivorous plants, and perhaps one of the most well known plants in general, in the world. Venus flytraps belong to the sundew plant family, Droseraceae. The sundew family is made up of many other carnivorous plants. They are also perennial plants, meaning their lifespan is longer than a single growing season. Despite being one of the most well-known plants on Earth, the Venus flytrap is actually only native to a small region in North and South Carolina in the United States.

The native environment of these plants are coastal bogs dominated by longleaf pines. They grow in wet, mossy and sandy conditions, and best in full sunlight. Venus flytraps are slow growing. Most plants get their nutrients from the soil, but the soil Venus flytraps grow in is very nutrient poor. This is why they need an alternative option for getting their essential nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorous. This is where their carnivorous capabilities come into play. Venus flytraps have the ability to capture and digest small insects and animals. Their diet is made up of about 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, 10% grasshoppers, and 5% flying insects. They actually eat very little flies, despite their name.

Most other carnivorous plants in the sundew family use sticky substances on their leaves to capture and digest insects. However, the Venus flytrap is unique because its insect-catching method is more mechanical in nature. Their leaves are hinged in the center, creating 2 lobes, with spiny teeth along the margins. They have 3 hairs on each lobe that when triggered, cause the cells in the leaf’s hinge to activate and invert the lobes from convex to concave, effectively closing them together with those spiny teeth interlocking. The insect gets trapped in the middle where digestive enzymes are released. Full digestion of an insect takes the Venus flytrap about 10 days. After this, all that is left is a husk of chitin, and the leaf re-opens.