Venus Flytrap | Description, Mechanism, Adaptations, Habitat, Diet ...

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External Websites

• PNAS - Snapping mechanics of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Venus flytraps' metabolome analysis discloses the metabolic fate of prey animal foodstock
• Frontiers - Shapeshifting in the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula): Morphological and biomechanical adaptations and the potential costs of a failed hunting cycle
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Venus Fly Trap
• Nature - Scientific Reports - Action potentials induce biomagnetic fields in carnivorous Venus flytrap plants
• The Spruce - How to grow and care for Venus Flytrap plant
• Botanical Society of America - Dionaea muscipula - The Venus Flytrap
• AZ Animals - Venus flytrap

Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

• Venus’s-flytrap - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Venus’s-flytrap - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: Dionaea muscipula, Venus’s flytrap Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Nov. 28, 2025 •History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot

Venus flytrap, (Dionaea muscipula), perennial carnivorous plant of the sundew family (Droseraceae), notable for its unusual habit of catching and digesting insects and other small animals. The only member of its genus, the plant is native to a small region of North and South Carolina, where it is common in damp mossy areas. As photosynthetic plants, Venus flytraps do not rely on carnivory for energy but rather use the nitrogen-rich animal proteins to enable their survival in marginal soil conditions.

Also called: Venus’s flytrap (Show more) Related Topics: carnivorous plant (Show more) On the Web: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Venus flytraps' metabolome analysis discloses the metabolic fate of prey animal foodstock (Nov. 28, 2025) (Show more) See all related content Taxonomy

• Kingdom: Plantae
• Division: Angiosperm
• Order: Caryophyllales
• Family: Droseraceae
• Genus: Dionaea

See also list of carnivorous plants.

The plant, which grows from a bulblike rootstock, bears a group of small white flowers at the tip of an erect stem 20–30 cm (8–12 inches) tall. The leaves are 8–15 cm (3–6 inches) long and have blades that are hinged along the midline so that the two nearly circular lobes, with spiny teeth along their margins, can fold together and enclose an insect alighting on them. This action is triggered by pressure on six sensitive hairs, three on each lobe. In normal daytime temperatures the lobes, when stimulated by prey, snap shut in about half a second. Glands on the leaf surface then secrete a red sap that digests the insect’s body and gives the entire leaf a red flowerlike appearance. About 10 days are required for digestion, after which the leaf reopens. The trap dies after capturing three or four insects.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.