They can really bug you

Usage examples of insects.

Structure of the leaves--Sensitiveness of the filaments--Rapid movement of the lobes caused by irritation of the filaments--Glands, their power of secretion--Slow movement caused by the absorption of animal matter--Evidence of absorption from the aggregated condition of the glands--Digestive power of the secretion--Action of chloroform, ether, and hydrocyanic acid--The manner in which insects are captured--Use of the marginal spikes--Kinds of insects captured--The transmission of the motor impulse and mechanism of the movements--Reexpansion of the lobes.

Number of insects captured--Description of the leaves and their appendages or tentacles--Preliminary sketch of the action of the various parts, and of the manner in which insects are captured--Duration of the inflection of the tentacles--Nature of the secretion--Manner in which insects are carried to the centre of the leaf--Evidence that the glands have the power of absorption--Small size of the roots.

On the other hand, the sensitive filaments of Dionaea are not viscid, and the capture of insects can be assured only by their sensitiveness to a momentary touch, followed by the rapid closure of the lobes.

I had heard that insects were thus caught, but knew nothing further on the subject.

Scott shows that gentle irritation of the hairs, as well as insects placed on the disc of the leaf, cause the hairs to bend inwards.

As this plant is extremely common in some districts, the number of insects thus annually slaughtered must be prodigious.

Sketch of the Action of the several Parts, and of the Manner in which Insects are Captured.

Whether insects alight on the leaves by mere chance, as a resting place, or are attracted by the odour of the secretion, I know not.

I suspect from the number of insects caught by the English species of Drosera, and from what I have observed with some exotic species kept in my greenhouse, that the odour is attractive.

So it must be with the gastric juice of the insects which feed on pollen, without masticating it.

They frequently capture insects, and the glands of the inflected tentacles pour forth much acid secretion.

This species, therefore, probably draws more nourishment from the air, and less from captured insects, than the other species of the genus.

Perhaps this indicates that the blades of vigorous plants would bend over captured insects, and Dr.

Copland informs me that the leaves of a plant which he kept for some years were generally covered with captured insects before they withered.

Drosophyllum, neither those on the upper nor lower surface of the leaves, are capable of movement when excited, though they capture numerous insects, which serve as nutriment.