| Comments |
P.12 left column 4th paragraph: "The Venus fly trap (Dionea) contains two sensitive hairs that must be touched within 20 s of each other for the trap to close. Each touch of the hair initiates an action potential that is conveyed to motor cells at the base of the trap that controls closure and engenders a decaying short-term memory. Two hairs are used to avoid erroneous closure induced by, for example, rain drops. However, closure on its own does not initiate the secretion of digestive enzymes and the formation of sodium channels to abstract a necessary mineral. Small insects can enter the trap and initiate just a two hair dependent closure. The top of the trap is grill-like and these can then escape and often do so. Under these error conditions, the trap opens in a day." |