274

Plant shaming should be a thing (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by ickplant@lemmy.world to c/houseplants@mander.xyz

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[-] sprite0@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 day ago

the venus fly trap contains small hairs inside of the mouth. It requires two hairs being triggered at the same time to 'chomp'. The chomp action is biologically expensive so the plant can't afford to do it until a proper sized meal will get digested and it will gain net energy.

It also precludes smaller animals with strength from just walking out of the mouth.

The plant did nothing wrong this is just a silly owner!

[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

It requires two hairs being triggered at the same time to 'chomp'.

if you call "a few seconds" interval "at the same time", yes

"Flytraps show an example of memory in plants; the plant knows if one of its trigger hairs have been touched, and remembers this for a few seconds. If a second touch occurs during that time frame, the flytrap closes."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_flytrap

[-] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 16 hours ago

That was an amazing read, thanks. Crazy to think that the entire wild population os native to a 100km area

[-] blackbrook@mander.xyz 9 points 1 day ago

Having fire ants in your house seems pretty no bueno. Is this a common hazard in some places?

[-] StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 day ago

Speaking for us living in Alabama, cockroaches, fire ants, and scorpions are the reason most of us happily pay for pest control services.

[-] GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

I know that it's probably a sign of impending ecological doom, but where I live used to have scorpions coming in all the time. I don't think I've even seen evidence of them outside for close to a decade. I guess I can appreciate the silver lining of the giant mushroom cloud.

[-] TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Yes. They are an invasive species in much of the American South (and beyond).

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Fire ants are not uncommon in the American south, but I don't know if they're especially likely to invade homes.

[-] PlasticQuality7519@reddthat.com 9 points 1 day ago

Ants have formic acid, they’re bad for venus flytraps. Dr. Chomperton must have remembered their notes from the school of medicine

[-] TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

Immediately I was like “how does a plant like that sting you”. I’m a bit of a slow child, although I get it now.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

I still don't. The fire ants stung him?

[-] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago

Yes.

[-] Maalus@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago

You touch the hairs inside it and it closes trapping prey. But it's not "a sting", not even close, so I dunno what this is about

[-] Mac@mander.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

The ants

[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

plant has mouth

humans put words in the plant's mouth

Rude.

[-] mortalic@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I'm not hungry!

this post was submitted on 24 May 2025

274 points (97.9% liked)

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