Carnivorous Plants - Snap Traps

[Thoreau]

The only two active snap traps—the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and the waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)—are believed to have had a common ancestor with similar adaptations. Their trapping mechanism has also been described as a "mouse trap" or "man trap", based on their shape and rapid movement. However, the term snap trap is preferred as other designations are misleading, particularly with respect to the intended prey. Aldrovanda is aquatic and specialised in catching small invertebrates; Dionaea is terrestrial and catches a variety of arthropods, including spiders.[7]

The traps are very similar, with leaves whose terminal section is divided into two lobes, hinged along the midrib. Trigger hairs (three on each lobe in Dionaea muscipula, many more in the case of Aldrovanda) inside the trap lobes are sensitive to touch. When a trigger hair is bent, stretch-gated ion channels in the membranes of cells at the base of the trigger hair open, generating an action potential that propagates to cells in the midrib.[8] These cells respond by pumping out ions, which may either cause water to follow by osmosis (collapsing the cells in the midrib) or cause rapid acid growth.[9] The mechanism is still debated, but in any case, changes in the shape of cells in the midrib allow the lobes, held under tension, to snap shut,[8] flipping rapidly from convex to concave[10] and interring the prey. This whole process takes less than a second. In the Venus flytrap, closure in response to raindrops and blown-in debris is prevented by the leaves having a simple memory: for the lobes to shut, two stimuli are required, 0.5 to 30 seconds apart.

The snapping of the leaves is a case of thigmonasty (undirected movement in response to touch). Further stimulation of the lobe's internal surfaces by the struggling insects causes the lobes to grow together towards the prey (thigmotropism), sealing the lobes hermetically and forming a stomach in which digestion occurs over a period of one to two weeks. Leaves can be reused three or four times before they become unresponsive to stimulation.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivorous_plant

I have become fascinated with these plants and their functions. I find it amazing how the cells of the plant react so quickly in sync with each other. And what I find more amazing is that, being a plant, they have no nervous system to detect stimuli but somehow still does.

 

[Mickmeister]

They are fascinating. I used to grow them at home and then fed them insects. The Jelly Fish is also fascinating in that they also have no brain or central nervous system

 

[superstring01]

I had a Venus Fly Trap as a lad. I don't know what ever became of it.

~String

 

[Repo Man]

"Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus's-flytrap. The flytrap can bite and bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it could be like ambition." - Jack Handey

 

[cosmictraveler]

Just don't get eaten by one!

 

[dara11]

Yea really very interesting stuff. Agree, they are fascinating. I also grow them at home. They are like little monsters...

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

The Jelly Fish is also fascinating in that they also have no brain or central nervous system

Jellyfish do have a nervous system, but it is not centrally or peripherally organized in the same way our nervous systems are.

Plants do not have a nervous system, however they do have cells that detect sensory input and an effector system that can react to that input that is driven (as far as I can recall) by turgor pressure. Changes in turgor pressure can produce rapid responses, such as the snapping shut of Venus Fly Trap.

 

[Orleander]

we go to Bishop's Bog here quite often. There are carnivorous pitcher and sun dew plants. One of the most amazing things I have ever seen was a pitcher plant in bloom. I didn't know they had flowers.