It is a good idea. Instead of a clam, this seemed to me like more of a snail thing to do. Snails are clam cousins so it is close. Plus snails already live on land, and your tree canopy seems like snail heaven. I went looking. This quote is about the "pond snail" of which the Lymnaea species is one. https://homesteady.com/info-12285231-long-life-pond-snail.html > The snail leaves an underwater slime trail, which collects plant and > animal debris as well as microscopic organisms. Upon crossing its own > slime path, the pond snail eats the bits and pieces stuck to the trail Better is this great stuff on pond snail feeding I found on Google books from [Behavior monographs. Cambridge, Mass. : H. Holt & Co., 1911](https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3oVAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA71&lpg=RA2-PA71&dq=snail+mucus+ribbon+feed&source=bl&ots=_M6vbygYeQ&sig=JpG7FQnKcy4a6h3VmZZhxahnlcE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwip0ILl_YbcAhUk3YMKHXChDRgQ6AEIiwEwFA#v=onepage&q=snail%20mucus%20ribbon%20feed&f=false). I love these old natural history descriptions! > All of these flesh eating snails have been seen eating dead > houseflies, mayflies, fish, beefsteak and snails. They will eat such > meat fresh, although they seemingly prefer it stale. I had seen them > eating dead snails, when the odor from the food could scarcely be > endured in the laboratory. The *Lymnaea* cited above have cannibal > traits, a character which is especially notable in *L. stagnalis*. I > have seen this species devouring struggling flies, moths and young > snails that have become entangled in its slime… > > It is a common thing to see *Lymnaea stagnalis* and other freshwater > pulmonates turn about and eat from the foot the mass of somewhat > hardened mucus together with what foreign bodies this has > incorporated. Linden (1902) has observed the dexterity of *Lymnaea* in > obtaining food from the foot, while the snail is moving upon the > surface film. Brockmeier (1898) describes this process as “plankton > fishing”. The mucus servers not only as a food itself but is a most > efficient means of collecting food for the snail, both on solids and > on the film. The trails of mucus left on solids remain sticky and > serve as a trap to catch my new plants and animals and other foreign > particles. The snails eat continually from the solids, devouring the > mucus with all that is caught in it. So: a mollusk which secretes sticky mucus from the foot, then eats the mucus with live prey that has stuck to it. That is what you want and that exists! A snail would probably not mind being sessile most of the time, waiting for its prey to come to it. It is one more step to having attractive smelling mucus. I could imagine mucus that stunk could attract flies although that might attract larger carrion feeders too which would eat the snail. The same problem exists for fruit smells - fruit flies are tasty but big things like fruit. Mucus that smelled like flowers could attract pollinators - that sounds right. ---------- I was thinking of this concept and a snail that let its viscous slime net drool down thru the air like flypaper. Then it would reel it back in with its haul of bugs.