[PCA] Surviving the Trap! Scientists study pollinator visits to the carnivorous species, the Venus Fly Trap

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Pollinators are usually safe from a Venus flytrap
By Sarah Zielinski
ScienceNews Wild Things Blog

Out of the hundreds of species of carnivorous plants found across the
planet, none attract quite as much fascination as the Venus flytrap. The
plants are native to just a small section of North Carolina and South
Carolina, but these tiny plants can now be found around the world. They’re
a favorite among gardeners, who grow them in homes and greenhouses.

Scientists, too, have long been intrigued by the plants and have
extensively studied the famous trap. But far less is known about the flower
that blooms on a stalk 15 to 35 centimeters above — including what
pollinates that flower.

“The rest of the plant is so incredibly cool that most folks don’t get past
looking at the active trap leaves,” says Clyde Sorenson, an entomologist at
North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Plus, notes Sorenson’s NCSU
colleague Elsa Youngsteadt, an insect ecologist, because flytraps are
native to just a small part of North and South Carolina, field studies can
be difficult. And most people who raise flytraps cut off the flowers so the
plant can put more energy into making traps.

Full article: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-
things/pollinators-venus-flytrap-plants
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