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Post by adymitruk on Jan 23, 2008 6:19:45 GMT
I've seen this defended before:
"Trigger hairs must be touched for the trap to close"
well, I've now observed 2 times that this is not true.
The traps on my typical VFT have closed when stimulated just on the surface with the end of a tooth pick or pin.
How do I know no trigger hair was touched?
Because the trap was 1/4 developed due to lack of water/light at the super market.
The same thing worked while trying to clean the edge of a properly developed one.
Any one care to confirm/deny this finding?
Adam
PS. First post for me.. hope it's a good one!
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Post by stevestewart on Jan 23, 2008 20:12:37 GMT
Adam,
You are correct that traps can be closed by prodding areas of the leaf and traps other than the trigger hairs. We people are large rough animals with sharp tools and such, to stimulate Dionaea plants in ways that insects or other potential prey would never be able to accomplish.
The average spider, ant or fly do need to touch the most sensitive trigger hairs on the traps twice to get a healthy trap to close. Frogs, lizards and some insects are often strong enough to escape closing traps they have triggered by touching the trigger hairs.
I imagine throughout time many large animals have closed large numbers of flytraps without even knowing it, while grazing around them.
Great Post! I have been asked the same question by teachers frustrated by the closing traps before they wanted them to.
Take care,
Steven Stewart
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Post by Not a Number on Jan 23, 2008 21:08:58 GMT
I've triggered partial closing of traps by accidentally tapping or rubbing the outside of the trap. The odd thing in this case is usually only the trap half that was disturbed flexes.
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Post by ryanhellyer on Jan 24, 2008 7:40:35 GMT
I've triggered partial closing of traps by accidentally tapping or rubbing the outside of the trap. The odd thing in this case is usually only the trap half that was disturbed flexes. Weird, I haven't seen that before. I assume you would have forced the trap so hard that it's popped through kinetic reasons rather than chemical ones caused by regular triggering. Do the traps reopen after this happens? |
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Post by Alexis on Jan 25, 2008 18:33:31 GMT
I'm afraid you've found nothing new!
Traps can be triggered to close by rubbing the outside of the lobes.
Haven't found a particularly higher incidence of half trap closures by doing this to be honest. Damage to one side of the lobe usually causes one side not to move properly.
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Post by sarracenialover on May 4, 2008 2:46:50 GMT
That's pretty amazing although I'll try not to test that out and feed my plants the regular way. My theory that th trap closes is that there must be some kind of small "pressure pad" and the center is where the trigger hair is located. Just a wild guess.
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Post by Not a Number on May 4, 2008 3:16:58 GMT
If I recall correctly there is a sort of hinge near the base of the trigger hairs. Sort of like a those car antenna with the spring on the base.
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Post by mmlr38 on May 4, 2008 15:35:07 GMT
Yep, I've too noticed this. Perhaps the stimulation on the trap away from the trigger hairs is enough to "jostle" the hairs so that the result is the same as if they were directly stimulated.
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Post by Aidan on May 4, 2008 17:36:15 GMT
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Post by ICPS-bob on May 5, 2008 18:24:03 GMT
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