Could a carnivorous plant as large a Audrey II from “Little Shop of Horrors” actually evolve (non sentient, of course)?

Answered Dec 24, 2017

My guess is probably no.

A carnivorous plant that large would also need to trap large quantities of animals, which is rather difficult for an organism that is passively anchored in one place.

If it was relying on insects randomly walking into the trap structures, I expect that it wouldn’t get enough of them to add up to a sufficient total volume of food.

If it was relying on small mammals for food, there would also be a problem with both the numbers/volume issue.

Also, mice, etc, are stronger and have much more advanced perception and larger brains than insects. They would be more able to avoid the trap. They could learn from a previous near-miss (as they apparently do with regular mouse-traps). They might also develop an aversion to the scent of the plant (e.g. the pool of digestive fluid inside a “pitcher plant”).

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