Carnivorous plants are found on every continent except which one?

Carnivorous plants are found on every continent except Antarctica. Their global distribution reflects repeated adaptations to wet, sunny, and nutrient-poor habitats rather than descent from one single carnivorous ancestor.

They occur in bogs, marshes, tropical forests, savannas, and other environments where nitrogen or phosphorus is scarce. Insects and other small organisms provide supplementary nutrients after being trapped, digested, and absorbed. The plants still photosynthesize; they do not use prey as their primary energy source.

Carnivory has evolved independently at least 12 times among flowering plants. The major trap types include pitfall traps in pitcher plants, sticky flypaper traps in sundews and butterworts, snap traps in Venus flytraps, bladder traps in bladderworts, and lobster-pot traps in corkscrew plants.

Antarctica is the clear exception because its extreme cold, limited vegetation, and lack of suitable habitats prevent established carnivorous plant populations. South America, Europe, and Australia all have native carnivorous species.