The purpose of this blog......

The purpose of this blog is to educate the public on
how easy and fun it is to grow and care for
carnivorous plants.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Corn worms and Carnivorous Plants


It has been a full two days I have discovered that some carnivorous plants
digest insects at different rates. Venus Flytraps when ingesting corn worms
will completely consume them in a 24 hour period. These plants eat one day
and open up to a empty shell the next. The only thing that is left is the
skull and skin of the worm. The flytraps do take longer if they are eating
insects with a harder shell. Pitcher Plants on the other hand eat slower
and will keep the body of the insect until just about everything dissolves.
Venus Flytraps can really put corn worms away and they do so completely.
The plant starts out slow and closes encasing its prey in the plants temporary
stomach where ingest occurs. Once inside this pouch the plant secretes its
digestive juices dissolving the insides of the insect. Below are some recent photos
of plants having dinner.