Nonlinear dynamics in the trapping movement of the Venus flytrap

Venus flytrap has long been regarded as one of the few plants capable of rapid movements for small animal trapping. It has three unique features. First, it has one of the fastest movements in the plant kingdom. Second, it exhibits a "decision-making intelligence" to determine, from a semi closed state, whether to proceed to be completely closed or fully open. Finally, the Venus flytrap has a "memory" of touch that two mechanical stimuli within about 30 seconds are usually necessary to trigger the trap closing. The movement has significant advantages over motions generated by complex nervous interactions, as it does not involve sophisticated sensor or processor. Rather it relies on simple biochemical reactions that could be relatively easily engineered. This movement involves nonlinear dynamics that has not been well understood. A mathematical model describing the movement of the Venus flytrap was first proposed by the authors in [21]. This paper provides an in-depth nonlinear analysis of the dynamic process for better understanding of not only the fascinating plant trap ping movements, but also the potentially bio-inspired control mechanism for industrial applications.