We know an insect which can be easily found in our houses-gardens and that’s mosquitoes. Now if it becomes the food for your growing venus flytrap it will make things easier. That way it can manage its own food since it is widely available. Mosquitoes are really fast and tiny, right? So can venus flytrap catch them? Because if it can not catch the mosquitoes it cannot eat, we are not talking about the dead mosquitoes. So can the venus flytraps eat mosquitoes like its other prey?
Do Venus flytraps eat mosquitoes?
Venus flytraps eat mosquitoes. But it’s difficult to catch one. Mosquitoes are too tiny to trigger the hair on the flytrap’s jaw surface. If it does not trigger the first time, the flytrap won’t get a second chance.
Around the world, there are 0.5 million species of Plants. Usually, Plants cannot walk like animals and also cannot eat like animals Because they don’t have a stomach like us for metabolizing food so plants absorb minerals, and water via roots and make carbohydrates. But “venus fly trap ” is an amazing species of plant that can feed insects.
It has thorny leaps which look like a mouth, especially like an oyster. When an insect gets into its mouth it gets triggered and closes its mouth and the insect gets trapped. Then the venus releases some Enzymes that metabolize the insect from the inside.
Can venus flytrap catch mosquitoes?
To know this we have to know how venus flytrap eats insects. Well, they have a bladder from whichever sweet smell spreads everywhere. Then the insects get attracted by the smell and they sit on its thorny leap. Then the trigger hair gets stimulated and closes its leap in a second.
Now, we can simply say that whichever insects get attracted by smell fall into the venus trap. But usually, mosquitoes don’t have an attraction to smell, rather they get attracted by a specific hormone.
But surprisingly, mosquitoes also get trapped by venus. Now you can ask me how it can happen. Because the mosquitoes can easily escape from the closed leap. Actually, Venus releases both smell and an adhesive chemical. Anything gets stuck as well as mosquitoes. That’s how even after being so tiny and fast they get caught by a flytrap.
Some recent research has revealed some interesting facts about how venus flytrap catches mosquitoes. The sensors on the surface of the VFT’s jaws respond to pressure difference stimuli. Then the plant converts it to an electrical signal which tells the trap to close. And the required pressure difference is so small that it can even be triggered by an ant.
Can venus flytrap be used for reducing mosquitoes in homes?
You might think that growing venus flytrap can reduce the number of mosquitoes in your house. But in reality, only a small percentage of mosquitoes fall into flytrap’s diet. On average a plant has seven flytraps and the digestion time is 1 week for each one. So a flytrap can only kill seven mosquitoes every week.
The second thing is venus flytrap only consumes male mosquitoes because male mosquitoes are the one who gets attracted by the nectar. On the other hand, female mosquitoes don’t feed on nectar meaning they don’t usually come near venus fly tap. Female mosquitoes are the ones who drink blood, lay eggs, and increase the number of mosquitoes.
If you want to reduce the number of mosquitoes you can use a pitcher plant. Pitcher plants last fall on traps can catch a larger number of mosquitoes. And it takes less time to digest their prey.
That’s why removing bugs or mosquitoes from pitcher plants is better than flytraps.
How hard is it to keep a venus flytrap alive?
It’s easy to keep a venus flytrap alive and enjoyable to watch them eating insects. A gardener should always keep this plant around.
Venus flytrap is carnivorous and they can live two to three months without eating insects. But you should know that venus can also absorb water from the soil. Though it cannot save him for a long time. Besides, if you grow it outdoors, it may survive for a long time. Because then it will take its food naturally. indoors, you have to give it food as well as insects.
Though most of their nutrients are managed from photosynthesis, insects fill the other ones. Direct sunlight for 5-6 hours a day, never using mineral water, keeping the plant in a humid place, watering them carefully so the soil keeps always slightly moist, taking extra measures for winter dormancy, and other care guidelines can help the plant to live for 20 years.
Can you feed venus fly trap and dead bugs?
Yes, you can. Usually, leaps of venus open for insects. When an insect gets into its mouth. The trigger hair takes sensation and starts closing. But if you put dead bugs into its mouth, the mouth may not close. Then you have to manually move it into the leap mouth then the trigger hair though it is an alive insect.
But the best is to avoid feeding them dead insects because live ones have sufficient protein for them.
Conclusion
There’s a wide variety of insects available to feed carnivorous plants. In the wild, they eat anything that falls into their trap. But sometimes it backfires. There are some insects that are hard to digest and it costs lots of energy to fully digest them. In many cases, the plant dies in the process of digesting.
But if you are growing them indoors you can avoid this risk by feeding them appropriate foods. Feed them which are easy to digest and mosquitoes are definitely one of them. If you notice that your flytrap can’t catch mosquitoes, you can also feed them the dead ones.
Hi, I am Rahat Rubayet. I am an entrepreneur and A gardener by Hobby. I created This website to help people like you, who want to make the world greener and want to leave it as a better place for our next generation.
