How the venus flytrap eats a frog

By at 8:06 am Monday, Mar 8

It's electrical signals that allow the lobes of a venus flytrap to snap shut faster than a frog can flee. In animals, those sort of signals travel via the nervous system, which plants like the flytrap conspicuously lack. In a way, it's like the plants can send email without the Internet. How's it work? Science writer Ferris Jabr explains.

Also, there's this paragraph, which makes you feel very sorry for that frog:

Having secured its meal, the trap begins to eat by releasing an array of digestive enzymes--special proteins that help control the rate of chemical reactions. This acidic concoction dissolves the victim, allowing the Venus flytrap to absorb the nitrogen it can't get from the nutrient-poor soil in which it grows. Around ten days later, the trap reopens, revealing a crumbling exoskeleton.

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Maggie Koerth-Baker

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