Figure 1.

The impulsive movements of the trap lobes of Venus flytrap (a) involve two physiological features that are closely relevant for developing engineered adaptive structures. (b) Distributed and pressurized cellular organization that can lead to large actuation force and stroke with a superior power to density ratio. (c) Embedded bistability that can amplify the response speed (adapted from Forterre et al. [3]). Flytrap photo credit: Beatrice Murch (www.wikipedia.com). (Online version in colour.)