Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
Venus flytraps don't eat the insects that pollinate them (phys.org)
72 points by dnetesn on Feb 6, 2018 | hide | past | favorite | 13 comments



Just to be clear, there's no evidence of the trap failing to close on a pollinator insect in its jaws. It's just that the pollinators don't seem to go near the traps.

Still interesting, just not quite as amazing as the title might imply. I was picturing the symbiosis of sharks and the creatures that clean their teeth before reading, but it's not quite like that.


Maybe you've overlooked the complementary evolutionary traits of both, or perhaps it is all coincidence.


Evolution is just persisted coincidence.


While the article title is a true statement, the ambiguities of the language may create a false impression of Venus flytraps "knowing" who pollinates them and not eating those species. This is not how natural selection works. Some mutations of Venus flytraps produced a variation in placement and color of the traps that allowed some species to pollinate them. If there ever were (or will be) a mutation of a Venus flytrap that catches and eats everything, there will be no one to pollinate these and they will die out as a result.

We should not leave Lysenkoism a chance, even if it is in the subtleties of language.


> We should not leave Lysenkoism a chance, even if it is in the subtleties of language.

Why, are you suggesting that if that idea is taught to this existing generation, that future generations will inherit the idea from them? ;-)


xD Well played, sir.


> Some mutations of Venus flytraps produced a variation in placement and color of the traps that allowed some species to pollinate them.

as wildly speculative as the claim you attempt to discredit..


> may create a false impression of Venus flytraps "knowing" who pollinates them and not eating those species

Has it been conclusively proven that Venus flytraps are indeed incapable of this feat, or is that just your assumption?


It is a false impression in the sense that it is not what is claimed here.


If a bee is one of the pollinators, it will almost definitely see and hone in on the flower rather than the trap. Flowers are designed to attract pollinators that are adapted to identify them. The flowers exhibit ultraviolet patterns which appear as bulls-eyes to a pollinator that sees more of the UV spectrum. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-473897/A-bees...


Sounds like they obey the rule of "don't bite the hand that feeds you"!


In this case it's more like, "Don't eat the hand that fucks you".


Photos in the article don't look like Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) mentioned in article or linked paper.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: