The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants

by Peter D'Amato

Shortly the insect drowns in this fluid. It takes a flytrap from four to ten days to digest its prey. The soft parts of the insect are dissolved and this fluid is absorbed by the plant. When the trap reopens, only the dried, shriveled exoskeleton of the insect remains. Rain may wash the carcass out of the trap. More often, spiders are lured by the crusty shell and become a second meal. In the wild, large ants and spiders are the most frequent prey. If a trap is closed empty, as a result of a falling leaf or rude finger, it will usually reopen within one or two days. Each