Question
Hi

I have a Venus fly trap which is the first I have ever purchased.  It caught a fly last week and I have noticed today the trap has opened and the fly (albeit dead) is still there.  I thought the trap digested the fly.

Do I need to physically remove the dead flies from the traps once they have reopened?  Or would the trap usually digest them completely?

Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hello Kirsty. Venus Flytraps digest all of the soft parts of the insects they catch, but not the chitinous shell. So it's normal to see a dried insect exoskeleton in the trap when it opens again. In nature, wind and rain usually remove these dried remains from the traps, but it is not strictly necessary to do so: the trap can usually function fine even with the remains of previous prey still inside the trap.

However, if you do wish to remove the dry insect husk yourself, you can try blowing it out (not always successful), or using a spray bottle filled with distilled or rain water to wash it out, or gently removing it with tweezers.

If you use tweezers, you may accidentally stimulate the trigger hairs inside the trap and cause it to close again. Try to grab and pull the insect out in one movement. If you are unsuccessful, then wait for 45 seconds or more before trying again, because once the trigger hairs inside the trap have been touched, the trap is ready to snap shut at the slightest additional stimulation of the trigger hairs for about 30 seconds or more, before they "forget" that they were stimulated and reset themselves.

Good luck and happy growing. :-) --Steve