Don't look for the Venus Flytrap in the tropical jungles of Africa or South America. Its only native habitat is the area around Wilmington, North Carolina, where it grows in peat filled sink holes.  Geologists feel these depressions were formed by water hollowing out underground areas until they collapsed.

Once very abundant, the species is now rather threatened, due primarily to habitat destruction. Unfortunately, the loss of habitat is occurring at an alarming rate, due to a rapidly growing population and the drainage of wetland for lumber, agriculture and residential development.

In their native Carolina habitats, Venus flytraps grow primarily in sandy, peaty soils in damp areas on the edges of swamps. Typically they are found in open, sunny, wet savannas. Their climate is warm-temperate and humid. In the summer, the days are hot and nights are warm. Winters are chilly, with occasional periods of frost, but only rarely does it snow.

In 1763 Governor Arthur Dobbs of North Carolina, was the first person to describe the plant which he named 'Fly Trap Sensitive' and which later became known as the Venus Flytrap. A few years later, specimens were sent to England, where it was the first plant ever suspected of being carnivorous.

Dionaea muscipula. The origin of the name has its roots in Greek and Roman mythology.

In Greek DIONE is the mother of Aphrodite, or sometimes used as another name for Aphrodite goddess of love. In Latin MUSCIPULA means mousetrap and refers to its manner of action.

Venus flytraps are perennial plants. Grown from seed, they usually take about four to five years to reach maturity and can live from two to three decades.

Looking like a cluster of bear traps, the Venus Flytrap lies in wait for its victims. Insects are attracted by a sweet nectar inside the trap. There, on each side of the trap, are three dark trigger hairs, and they are extremely sensitive.

When an insect touches a trigger hair once, nothing apparently happens. The plant has been alerted, but the hair mechanism could have been activated by the wind, or a piece of dust. When the prey brushes a trigger hair again, that second signal causes a reaction; nerve-like electrical impulses pass through the plant, and the trap closes instantly. The 'teeth' called cilia, interlock and form a cage, enclosing the victim.

Small insects can easily crawl out between the cilia. This is the plant's method of throwing back the small fish, since it would take more energy to digest a tiny insect than could be gained from consuming it. But larger insects struggle to get out, repeatedly touching the trigger hairs. These signals cause the trap to close completely, totally sealing in the prey. The traps fills with liquid and the victim drowns.

The liquid, a digestive enzyme, breaks down the soft parts of the insect so the plant can absorb it. This process takes several days. When the plant has digested all of the insect it can use, the trap reopens, exposing the insect's skeletal shell, which is soon swept away by wind or rain. If the trap was mechanically triggered and captured no prey, it reopens within a day or so.