Do Venus Fly Traps Eat Spiders?
Venus Fly Traps are undeniably beautiful and fascinating plants, and although we mostly associate these carnivorous plants with munching on flies, you may have wondered if they eat other insects too.
For instance, are spiders immune to the clutches of a venus fly trap?
After all, spiders are arachnids rather than bugs, so can a venus fly trap get a spider in its jaws and eat it? Would a spider be harmful to the plant?
That’s what we’ll be looking at in our article today. We’ll also take a look at the best food to feed to a venus fly trap, and food you should avoid feeding this carnivorous plant. Let’s get
So Do Venus Fly Traps Eat Spiders?
Yes, venus fly traps can eat spiders if a spider crosses its path, but spiders are not their main source of food.
Venus fly traps will prey on practically anything they can catch as long it’s not too large.
So a small spider can easily fall prey to a venus fly trap.
Spiders might crawl across a venus fly trap, and if they trigger the small, sensitive hairs of the plant, then the trap will instantly snap shut on the spider.
As the spider struggles, it will trigger the plant to produce digestive juices that make escape more difficult.
If you catch a spider you can feed it to your venus fly trap, but spiders are quick, and often escape a trap before it has a chance to close on them.
Although sometimes the spider won’t be quick enough to escape, most of the time they are too fast for even a venus fly trap to escape.
Are Spiders Harmful To Venus Fly Traps?
While this may sound hard to believe given the fact that venus fly traps eat spiders and bugs, there are occasions where a spider could harm your venus fly trap.
Some large insects are able to munch their way through the trap before they are digested, including spiders.
You should never feed your venus fly trap anything bigger than a third the size of the trap.
This is because the trap will be unable to close or digest its prey. Larger spiders are also more likely to munch their way to freedom.
This will harm the plant and also drain it of energy unnecessarily. After all, it could have used that energy to successfully trap and digest a smaller insect.
Although most healthy venus fly traps will withstand this and grow a new trap, weaker plants will find it harder to recover.
What Do Venus Fly Traps Eat?
So now that we know venus fly traps eat spiders and flies, what else do they eat?
Venus fly traps eat pretty much anything that is small enough to be trapped and large enough to keep in their trap.
However, miniscule insects might be able to escape by slipping through the spines.
If you want to know what to feed your plant, you can try all kinds of insect-based foods like dried bloodworms, crickets, dead flies, and mealworms.
To do this, you need to slip a toothpick in the trap’s spines to simulate the plant or it may not be able to digest its meal.
Venus fly traps in the wild may even eat small frogs if they can.
They will also eat ants, beetles, caterpillars, crickets, flies, grasshoppers, and pretty much any kind of insect they can get their jaws on!
What Is The Best Food To Feed Your Venus Fly Trap?
We recommend feeding your venus fly trap the insect-based foods we’ve mentioned above when it isn’t catching its own food.
Dried insects like mealworms are readily available at most pet stores, and will do a fine job of feeding your venus fly trap.
While venus fly traps derive a small amount of nutrients from their soil, you shouldn’t fertilize your flytrap. They tend to struggle in soil that is too rich, and may die if there are too many nutrients in their soil.
The plant has evolved to derive most of its nutrients from its traps.
Can Venus Fly Traps Eat Animals Other Than Insects?
Venus fly traps are able to digest meat from small animals like birds, frogs, or rodents.
However, this is very rare, and venus fly traps in the wild mainly eat insects.
Therefore, we recommend only feeding insects and spiders to your venus fly trap rather than other animals.
While venus fly traps can digest meat, they will likely fail to digest the entire animal and this will lead to a rotting trap.
What Insects Shouldn’t You Feed To Venus Fly Traps?
Venus fly traps can eat practically any insect, but that doesn’t mean that all insects are equal when it comes to how well a venus fly trap can suggest them (But does anything eat Venus Fly Traps? Find out here).
We recommend avoiding feeding your venus fly traps caterpillars, slugs, and snails.
You should avoid feeding snails to your venus fly trap as it will be unable to digest the shell. Plus, only small snails will be able to fit inside a venus fly trap.
Venus fly traps can eat caterpillars and slugs, but they are challenging to them.
Caterpillars or slugs that are particularly strong and determined to escape may eat their way out of the trap.
Plus, if the bug manages to escape, it may try to eat the plant.
Can Venus Fly Traps Eat Human Food?
No, human food is inappropriate for venus fly traps to eat, as it is too difficult for them to digest.
When venus fly traps fail to digest food their leaf withers and the food will rot, attracting bacteria and mold.
Final Thoughts
We hope our article has answered the question ‘do venus fly traps eat spiders?’ and will help feeding your venus fly trap a bit easier!
To sum up, while venus fly traps can eat spiders, they will have a harder time eating and digesting large spiders, and in some cases tiny spiders may be able to slip through and escape the trap.
