ambkosh8465 wrote:Okay, I got a video of it this time!
lol nice catch!
hooofi wrote:Well done Veronis, thank you for this instructive thread. I have a few comments. First of all, from what you interpreted I assume that insects play a bigger role in fly traps' lives then some sources are willing to accept. I've read that insects are considered to be something like a dessert for fly traps but it is clear that they get essential nutrients by digesting insects right?
No, insects are definitely desserts. If I kept my flytraps indoors locked away and never ever let them see a bug in their lives, they would grow fine. They just wouldn't grow as quickly/robustly as they would with regular insect meals.
I'm unsure if insects make a difference in maximum trap size for when a flytrap reaches adulthood, or if a lack of insects would simply take it longer to reach its maximum size.
hooofi wrote:Second of all, those numbers regarding amounts of eaten insects are rather suspicious meaning they don't seem accurate. 30% of ants? Those must be really big ants. I'm posting a photo taken recently, it is only natural and topical to previous posts.
Published scientific papers have to be based on careful study, so I assumed it was accurate, at least for the area stuied. Ants come in all sizes and are very common ground critters. In some areas ant traffic is going to be VERY high, and that in conjunction with the fact that ants travel around collecting food daily, in droves, makes this very plausible. Even a small ant can trigger a larger flytrap's trigger hairs.
It's possible that the flytraps studied happened to live in an area of NC that had a higher ant population than other areas, skewing the results a bit.