Venus Fly Traps are an incredibly unique kind of plant. They are a type of carnivorous plant that has a “mouth” that will clamp down and trap insects.
Because it is a type of carnivorous plant, this means that the Venus Fly Trap actually needs meat to survive, which makes it a bit different from regular plants.
If you have found your way to this article, you might be wondering what you can feed to a Venus Fly Trap, and one of the things you are probably curious about is mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes can be incredibly annoying and keeping a Venus Fly Trap around might help you deter them from biting you, but the relationship between the Venus Fly and the mosquito might be a bit different from what you are expecting.
If you want to learn more about the relationship between Venus Fly Traps and mosquitos, then you have come to the right place!
I will help you understand everything you need to know about how these two beings interact with each other!
Do Venus Fly Traps Eat Mosquitoes?
The short answer to this question is yes, Venus Fly Traps do eat mosquitoes (But does anything eat Venus Fly Traps? Find out here). But it might surprise you to learn that it’s incredibly unlikely that it will happen.
The reason is that mosquitos are actually too small to trigger the hairs that can be found in their mouths. It does happen on occasion, but it’s extremely uncommon.
Mosquitoes are one of the few kinds of bugs or insects that can find their way into the mouth of a Venus Fly Trap and come away still alive.
Its small size allows it to bypass the trapping mechanism, so this is why Venus Fly Traps don’t really eat them on a regular basis.
And even when they do trigger the trapping mechanism, there is an argument that it’s not really worth it for the plant.
Venus Fly Traps have to use up a great deal of energy to close their mouths and trap prey, and because mosquitoes are so small, they may not be getting a sufficient amount of energy in return when they eat them.
Can You Feed Dead Mosquitoes To Your Venus Fly Trap?
If you want to feed your Venus Fly Trap some dead mosquitoes you can definitely do this. It won’t harm the plant and it’s a great way to clean up any dead mosquitoes you find around your house.
While they can eat dead mosquitoes, it’s not always advisable to let them.
As I have previously mentioned, mosquitos don’t provide the Venus Fly Trap with much energy and they use lots of energy just to activate their trapping mechanism, so there is a whole debate on if it’s even worth it.
If you are going to feed your Venus Fly Trap mosquitoes though, don’t just give them one, maybe give them two or three mosquitos at a time.
Venus Fly Traps will eat a lot of bugs and insects, so it’s really not the end of the world if you don’t feed them mosquitos, dead or alive.
In a lot of instances, it’s actually more of a hindrance to the plant to feed them the mosquitos.
Other Things You Can Feed To Your Venus Fly Trap
If you aren’t sold on the idea of feeding your Venus Fly Trap mosquitoes and you want to find some better alternatives, then I am here to help!
Venus Fly Traps will eat a lot of other bugs and insects and there are plenty that will provide them with enough energy to make activating their trapping mechanisms worth it.
There are three fantastic options you can choose from, so check them out below to find out a bit more about each of them.
Blood Worms
Blood worms are incredibly nutritious and they are arguably one of the best things you can feed your Venus Fly Trap.
You can actually purchase blood worms in bulk and they are perfect to keep around for when your Venus Fly Trap needs a bit more energy.
If you do choose to feed your Venus Fly Trap blood worms, make sure that you rehydrate them with water before feeding them.
Meal Worms
Like blood worms, meal worms can also be bought in bulk. They are a really good source of energy and nutrients for any carnivorous plant and the Venus Fly Trap is no exception.
You can buy meal worms alive or dried, so it’s really up to you how you want to store them.
Also like blood worms, just make sure that you rehydrate them with water before you feed them to your Venus Fly Trap.
For smaller plants, you can cut them up to make them easier to digest, but larger Venus Fly Traps will have no issues in digesting them whole.
Crickets
Crickets work as food for quite a lot of animals and other species of carnivorous plants, and they are incredibly common to feed to Venus Fly Traps.
You can purchase crickets in bulk and they come in small and large sizes, so you can find the right size for your plant with ease.
Crickets can be bought either dead or alive. If you use dead/dried crickets, you will have to manually trigger the trapping mechanism, so if you would rather not deal with that, live crickets would be better.
If you have never fed crickets to an animal or carnivorous plant before, you may want to look up feeding methods and tutorials online just so you know what you are doing!
Conclusion
As you have now learned, Venus Fly Traps will eat crickets, but because they are so small, they very rarely trigger the trapping mechanism, so it’s actually incredibly uncommon.
On top of this, mosquitoes don’t really provide the Venus Fly Trap with sufficient energy, so it may not be the best thing to feed your carnivorous plant.
Try some of the other alternatives on this list when you need to feed your Venus Fly Trap. They will provide the plant with more than enough energy!
