Data from: Trap colour of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia does not serve a prey attraction or camouflage function.

The traps of many carnivorous plants are red in colour. This has been widely hypothesised to serve a prey attraction function; colour has also been hypothesised to function as camouflage, preventing prey avoidance. We tested these two hypotheses in-situ for the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia. We conducted three separate studies: (i) prey attraction to artificial traps to isolate the influence of colour; (ii) prey attraction to artificial traps on artificial backgrounds to control the degree of contrast; and (iii) observation of prey capture by D. rotundifolia to determine colour impacts on prey capture. Prey were not attracted to green traps and were deterred from red traps. There was no evidence that prey were attracted to camouflaged traps. For D. rotundifolia there was a relationship between trap colour and prey capture. However, trap colour may be confounded with other factors such as stickiness. Thus we conclude that for D. rotundifolia trap colour does not serve a prey attraction or camouflage function.