a full? venus flytrap

Zachary B. Kaufman (zbk43069@challenger.atc.fhda.edu)
Wed, 16 Aug 1995 15:07:32 -0700 (PDT)

Hi all. Yesterday afternoon, I fed two of my venus flytraps some
live healthy flies that I had caught with a net. Both plants
are growing rapidly, in part due to my persistant feeding. The
flies put up quite a struggle [ :) (sydistic smile)], but the one
inch traps were too much for them. This morning, I went out to
see my plants and to my surprise found the traps with the flies
reopening. Naturally, the flies were dead by suffocation. I
don't get this. The plants are in good health. Why did the plants
choose to forfeit their prize? Has anyone else had a similar experience?
When a VFT has obtained a sufficient store of nutrients in its
rizome, does it cease to digest?

puzzled,
--Zachary--