An insect lands on the open leaves of a Venus flytrap plant, drawn to an appealing scent. It noses around and accidentally brushes one of the trap’s trigger hairs. An action potential shoots across ...

One of the genes responsible for the Venus flytrap’s closing mechanism has been identified, representing a breakthrough in the understanding of plant mechanoreceptors. The infamous Venus flytrap – the ...

What has no brain, no nervous system, and not even nerves, yet acts as if it has reflexes? The answer is a Venus fly trap. This famous carnivorous plant captures insects and other small animals – and ...

It’s only recently, thanks to advances in molecular biology, that scientists have been able to learn more about how carnivorous plants work. While most plants are food themselves, carnivorous plants ...

Scientists are continuing to tease out the mechanisms by which the Venus flytrap can tell when it has captured a tasty insect as prey as opposed to an inedible object (or just a false alarm). There is ...