FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I was looking through cultivars of vfts and saw that their differences could range from color, to height, to tooth size. Some even have multiple heads. And some of these cultivars are unable to close or at least struggle to catch prey on their own. That made wonder, what cultivar has the most efficiency when it comes to catching prey? I also wanted to know if the all red coloration of the red dragon could mean it has a reduced capability for photosynthesis compared to the greener cultivars.

The big-mouth ones have the greatest catch rate. The ones with long "eyelashes" may have additional success when it comes to partial catches, but a half-caught bug could rot the trap.

The greener cultivars tend to be hardier than the red ones. Red color comes from anthocyanin, and is produced in response to stress (eg excess sunlight).

By big-mouth, do you mean flytrap cultivars that tend to have bigger traps?

Benj wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 2:58 am By big-mouth, do you mean flytrap cultivars that tend to have bigger traps?

Right, bigger traps.

Thank you for your response. I wanted more efficient flytraps since a pretty fun part of carnivorous plant keeping is seeing your plant caught something. Luckily, I already had an interest in big mouthed cultivars and got myself a ginormous.

Benj wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 3:11 am Thank you for your response. I wanted more efficient flytraps since a pretty fun part of carnivorous plant keeping is seeing your plant caught something. Luckily, I already had an interest in big mouthed cultivars and got myself a ginormous.

The prey needs to touch at least 2 trigger hairs for the trap to shut, so the bigger traps might not be triggered by little ants and such. They will catch what they need

elaineo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 5:21 am

Benj wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 3:11 am Thank you for your response. I wanted more efficient flytraps since a pretty fun part of carnivorous plant keeping is seeing your plant caught something. Luckily, I already had an interest in big mouthed cultivars and got myself a ginormous.

The prey needs to touch at least 2 trigger hairs for the trap to shut, so the bigger traps might not be triggered by little ants and such. They will catch what they need

Provided they are outdoors.

I have several cultivars and hundreds of 'typicals' and I find that the most prolific catches are made by the plainer, more green type of traps. Why this is I don't know but as most of the prey see in UV, who knows what they see in a trap?

Cheers
Steve

I have around 18 different cultivars, right now my Tiger Fangs is probably to most effective. It rarely has traps open for very long. Which is sad because it looks beautiful when open, but it’s very successful at catching flies, hornets and wasps. Next in line would be my DCXL plants.

Benj wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 3:11 am Thank you for your response. I wanted more efficient flytraps since a pretty fun part of carnivorous plant keeping is seeing your plant caught something. Luckily, I already had an interest in big mouthed cultivars and got myself a ginormous.

Get some Sarracenia or Sundews. They do not disappoint. I have some of my Sundews on my picnic table. I never worry about bugs when we are sitting at the table as the Sundews attract and take care of them. Great conversation starter when guests are over.

I would have to imagine that the ones growing in the wild, and any descendants with the same shape, are the best at catching prey. Wild ones, after all, are the result of millions of years of random chance selecting for the plants that are the best at living in a flytrap's habitat and doing flytrap things. If another shape was better, they'd have taken on that shape by now.