> Dione (Delta, iota, omega, ny, eta) was in ancient Greece a kind of
> sub-goddess of Aphrodite (=Venus of Romans), thought to be the mother of
> the latter. Sometimes, Dione was also used as a synonym of Aphrodite.
So Jan has explained the Venus = Dionaea bit.
I just thought I'd say that 'muscipula' is no doubt derived from
'musca' (Latin 'fly', as in Musca, the stellar constellation of
The Fly). Afraid I don't know what 'pula' is about in Latin.
I used to think that 'muscipula' was something to do with the
muscular nature of the traps, which it certainly isn't!
-- Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)