The Venus Flytrap

A Venus flytrap is a special plant. Most plants make their own food, like sugar, using sunlight and water. This food gives them energy. But the Venus flytrap lives in wet places. The soil there is not rich and does not have all the nutrients the plant needs. So, it gets nutrients in another way. Look closely at a Venus flytrap. Its leaves open wide like a mouth with tiny teeth. Inside, there are small, stiff hairs. When a tiny insect, like a fly, crawls onto a leaf and touches two hairs, snap! The trap closes fast. The flytrap then gets important nutrients from the insect. These nutrients help the plant grow strong. It still makes its own sugar food, but eating bugs helps it grow.