Venus flytrap knows when its prey is down for the count
Carnivorous plants are inherently kind of creepy.
But a new study published this week in Cell Biology really cranks that creepiness up to 11. According to this new research, the Venus flytrap can . . . count?
“The carnivorous plant Dionaea muscipula, also known as Venus flytrap, can count how often it has been touched by an insect visiting its capture organ in order to trap and consume the animal prey,” study author Rainer Hedrich, of the University of Wurzburg in Germany, said in a statement.
Plants don’t have brains, so the Venus flytrap doesn’t do anything that we’d recognize as “counting,” in a cognitive sense. But according to this new study, the plant somehow keeps track of the number of times it’s touched, which allows it to react appropriately to its prey.
When the scientists probed their plants with mechano-electric pulses, they found that one touch set the flytraps into high alert mode, but didn’t actually result in any action on the plant’s part. If a second touch happened within a few seconds, the trap snapped partially shut.
It only shut all the way after more touches, and the fifth touch triggered the release of digestive enzymes. After that, more touches meant more digestive enzymes. This allows the plant to expend just enough energy to successfully subdue and consume its prey: a bigger, livelier insect will get more attention than a weak bug.
“The number of action potentials informs (the plant) about the size and nutrient content of the struggling prey,” Hedrich said in a statement. “This allows the Venus flytrap to balance the cost and benefit of hunting.”