Figure 1.

Diagram depicting the range of motions and geometry changes performed by Dionaea muscipula snap-traps during short and long hunting cycles. (A) – The long hunting cycle in juvenile and adult plants includes successful capture, retention and digestion of prey, whereas during the short hunting cycle, (B,C) no prey is successfully captured, leading to an immediate trap reopening after snapping. The mode of trap reopening in traps from adult plants depends on trap geometry, with slender traps sometimes incorporating a snap-through transition. (B) – A trap from a juvenile plant in the “ready-to-snap” and closed configurations, (C) – A trap from an adult plant in the “ready-to-snap” and closed configurations. Snapping in traps of juvenile plants is not characterized by the snap-buckling instability, otherwise speed-boosting the motion of the adult traps hinting at different closing mechanics. The subsequent trap actuation and deformation processes involved in prey retention and digeston in traps of the juvenile plants are completely unknown so far (indicated by question marks). Images of traps from the juvenile plants were adapted from Poppinga et al. (2016), images of traps of the adult plants were adapted from Bauer et al. (2021).