Alissa Grice, age 9, of Mt. Holly, N.C., for her question:

DOES THE VENUS' FLYTRAP REALLY EAT BUGS?

The Venus' flytrap, which is also called the Dionaea, is a plant found in the coastal regions of North and South Carolina. Growing to about one foot high, the plant bears clusters of small white blossoms at the top of the flower stalk.

The plant really traps insects on its leaves and digests them. Because the plant grows in the bogs, its lack of nitrogen is made up with its diet of insects.

When the insect lands on one of the sensitive hairs found on the leaves, the two lobes of the leaves close like a trap and hold the insect inside. The soft parts of the insect are actually digested by a fluid secreted by special glands of the leaf. After the plant has taken in food, the trap opens and the leaf is again in position for another victim.