Gardening Houseplants Types of Houseplants

14 Pretty Carnivorous Plants That Eat Bugs

Predatory Plants to Help Your Home and Garden

By
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu

David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 04/10/24
Tropical pitcher plant hanging from stems

The Spruce / Autumn Wood

Carnivorous plants are plants that eat bugs or other small creatures. They may seem a little alien and sinister, but they evolved this talent as a coping mechanism to help them survive. Rather than drawing nutrients from the soil, these plants eat bugs or other small creatures to live. The result of these adaptations can be a plant that is, by conventional standards, rather weird-looking.

The pitchers, which are modified leaves, attract and trap insects. Once the insects are trapped within the pitcher, they can't get out because the walls are slippery and covered in stiff hairs that point downwards. The pitchers either fill with water and drown the trapped insects or produce a chemical that kills them.

If your interest is piqued, here are 14 strange and fascinating carnivorous plants to know about, and a few you can even try growing at home.

Warning

Carnivorous plants are often highly temperamental plants to grow, requiring exact growing conditions, which is why most are only grown commercially. These plants are not well-suited for gardeners who like easy-care plants.

  • 01 of 14

    Cobra Lily

    Cobra lilies hooded and reared up like cobra snakes.
    SoopySue / Getty Images

    Cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica), also called the California pitcher plant, is closely related to the other carnivorous pitcher plants in the Sarraceniaceae family. Its flower resembles the head of a cobra snake prepared to strike. Native to southern Oregon and Northern California, the cobra lily is very difficult to grow and may be best appreciated while spotting it during a hike around its native areas.

    • Name: Cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6-9
    • Color Varieties: Flowers are yellow to purplish green
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
    • Soil Needs: Gravelly, boggy soil saturated with cold water
    • Mature Size: 29 in. tall
  • 02 of 14

    Purple Pitcher Plant

    Northern pitcher plant flowers.
    mountainberryphoto / Getty Images

    The purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia pupurea), native to the eastern seaboard has many subspecies. This is another tricky plant that requires ideal soil conditions and it is most often grown in specialized bog gardens rather than as a houseplant.

    • Name: Purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia pupurea)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3-6 (depending on subspecies)
    • Color Varieties: Flowers are red; pitchers are greenish
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    • Soil Needs: Boggy, acidic
    • Mature Size: 6-8 in. long pitchers
  • 03 of 14

    Yellow Pitcher Plant

    Yellow pitcher plant.
    AlessandroZocc / Getty Images

    The yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava) has a modified leaf structure shaped like a vessel that holds and pours liquid. The yellow plant blooms from April to May and grows in sandy, boggy areas in the Southeast U.S.

    • Name: Yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6-8
    • Color Varieties: Flowers are yellow; pitchers are medium green
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    • Soil Needs: Boggy, humusy, acidic
    • Mature Size: 1-3 ft. tall
  • 04 of 14

    White Trumpet Pitcher Plant

    white pitcher trumpet plant

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    Many find the white trumpet pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla) the prettiest of all the carnivorous plants. The pitchers have stunning, dark veins in a pattern that stands out nicely against the ​pure white background. The plant blooms in April and May. This particular pitcher plant is fairly easy to grow in a small water garden.

    • Name: White trumpet pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 7-9
    • Color Varieties: Pitchers are white with dark veins; flowers are red
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    • Soil Needs: Boggy, humusy, acidic
    • Mature Size: 1-3 ft. tall
    Continue to 5 of 14 below
  • 05 of 14

    Tropical Pitcher Plant

    Nepenthes plants in hanging pots with their pitchers hanging down.
    Noppamon / Getty Images

    Tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp.) are woody vines that may be the weirdest looking of all the carnivorous plants. The pitchers in these cases hang down, making them an ideal choice for hanging baskets. The Nepenthes genus contains more than 150 species, some so large (for example, N. rajah and N. rafflesiana) that small mammals, lizards, and birds have been trapped in them thanks to large pitchers.

    • Name: Tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp.)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 10-11; usually grown in greenhouses
    • Color Varieties: Pitcher color can be greenish-yellow, orange, purple, or red; some are heavily speckled, depending on species
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to full shade (depends on species)
    • Soil Needs: Sphagnum moss in pots is the usual growing medium
    • Mature Size: Climbing vines up to 45 ft. long, pitchers 14-16 in. long
  • 06 of 14

    Sun Pitcher Plant

    Pitcher of sun pitcher plant.
    TomekD76 / Getty Images

    The genus Heliamphora contains more than 20 species native to South America, known collectively as sun pitcher plants. These plants have evolved modified pitcher-shaped leaf structures that hold water to drown insects. These are also among the most difficult of all the pitcher plants to grow in cultivation, surviving with precise temperatures and very high humidity levels.

    • Name: Sun pitcher plant (Heliamphora)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 10-11 (varies by species; most are tropical plants)
    • Color Varieties: Depends on species
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade (depends on species)
    • Soil Needs: Usually grown in sphagnum moss as potted plants
    • Mature Size: 6-36 in. depending on variety
  • 07 of 14

    Western Australian Pitcher Plant

    Western Australian pitcher plants growing in ground.
    Manassiri / Getty Images

    The Western Australian pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis) is among the smallest of the pitcher plants, with attractive, small striped pitchers. The 'Eden Black' cultivar is dark enough to qualify as that rarest of the rare—a black plant.

    • Name: Western Australian pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 8-11
    • Color Varieties: Green to dark purple pitchers; indistinct flowers are whitish
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    • Soil Needs: Usually grown is sphagnum moss as a potted plant
    • Mature Size: 5-8 in. tall, 6-10 in. wide, pitchers 1-1 1/2 in. long
  • 08 of 14

    Sundew

    Bug caught in a red sundew plant.
    jonathanfilskov-photography / Getty Images

    Sundews (Drosera spp.) are pretty plants that get their common name from the shimmering of the sticky secretions that cover the hairs protruding from leaves. Unlike the many pitcher plants that trap passively, sundews respond actively to touch; the hair-like tentacles reach out for the insect once any contact is sensed. In some species, the leaves curl up to engulf the insect. There are sundews of various kinds across continents.

    • Name: Sundews (Drosera spp.)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6 to 11 (depends on species)
    • Color Varieties: Flower color varies by species; leaf rosettes are generally reddish
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade (depends on species)
    • Soil Needs: Usually grown in a mixture of peat, sand, and perlite (carnivorous plant soil mix)
    • Mature Size: 8-10 in. tall, varying widths
    Continue to 9 of 14 below
  • 09 of 14

    Venus Flytrap

    Fly caught in a Venus flytrap plant.
    marcouliana / Getty Images

    Probably more people are familiar with the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) than with any of the other carnivorous plants. They are commonly sold as houseplants and have appeared (in exaggerated forms) in science fiction movies. The Venus flytrap mechanism actively moves as its "jaws" clamp down in a flash and trap the insect. Native to a small area in the Carolinas, the typical Venus flytrap has a 1-inch long trap, though larger cultivars have been developed for commercial sale.

    • Name: Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5-8 (requires winter protection in zone 5-6)
    • Color Varieties: Indistinct flowers are white
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
    • Soil Needs: Boggy, humusy, acidic
    • Mature Size: 6-12 in. tall, 6-9 in. wide, 1 in. trap
  • 10 of 14

    Bladderworts

    Carnivorous bladderwort plant with lavender flower.
    shihina / Getty Images

    Bladderwort plants (Utricularia spp.), comprising more than 200 species, have the most complicated and ingenious trapping mechanism for trapping minuscule insects. The plant has an elastic bean-shaped bladder that snaps open when trigger hairs are touched by some tiny creature, such as a daphnia (water flea). The sudden opening of the empty bladder draws in water and sucks in whatever creature is present, much the way a syringe draws in liquid when the plunger is drawn back. The plant then slowly squeezes the water back out through filtering membranes but the tiny creature is trapped inside.

    • Name: Bladderwort (Utricularia spp.)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 4-11 (depends on species)
    • Color Varieties: Yellow, blue, purple (depends on species)
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade (depends on species)
    • Soil Needs: Boggy or aquatic conditions
    • Mature Size: Varies, stems usually 10–40 in. (common bladderwort); less than 8 in. (humped bladderwort)
  • 11 of 14

    Villose Pitcher Plant

    Nepenthes villosa pitcher closeup.


    photograph by dorisj/Getty Images

    The villose pitcher plant (Nepenthes villosa) is another tropical species native to Malaysian Borneo. Although it does flower, it is grown for its colorful pitchers, which are bright orange.

    • Name: Villose pitcher plant (Nepenthes villosa)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 10-11
    • Color Varieties: Orange
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
    • Soil Needs: Sphagnum moss (placed in containers) is the typical growing medium
    • Mature Size: 9-10 in. tall, 3 in. wide, 4 in. pitcher
  • 12 of 14

    Kinabalu Pitcher Plant

    Nepenthes kinabaluensis pitcher closeup.

    Jordan Lye/Getty Images

    The Kinabalu pitcher plant (Nepenthes kinabaluensis) is another tropical carnivore native to Malaysian Borneo and it is very rare though you may be able to search and buy genuine seeds (but don't expect a replica of the parent plant). It is a hybrid between N. rajah and N. villosa, resulting in large pitchers. The plant is grown for its vibrant red pitchers more so than for its aesthetically insignificant blooms.

    • Name: Kinabalu pitcher plant (Nepenthes kinabaluensis)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 10-11
    • Color Varieties: Red
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
    • Soil Needs: Sphagnum moss (placed in containers) is the typical growing medium
    • Mature Size: 13-14 in. pitcher
    Continue to 13 of 14 below
  • 13 of 14

    Veitch's Pitcher Plant

    Striped and mottled pitcher of Nepenthes veitchii.

    Beachmite Photography/Getty Images

    Another rare Malaysian Borneo native, Veitch's pitcher plant (Nepenthes veitchii) is stunning, right down to its mottled inner wall. But it's the outside that is the most eye-catching. Its flowers may not be ornamental enough to justify the effort involved in growing such a fussy plant but the large striped pitchers surely are for those with extreme green thumbs willing to take the challenge if you can find one to grow.

    • Name: Veitch's pitcher plant (Nepenthes veitchii)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 10-11
    • Color Varieties: Orange, red, and yellow
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
    • Soil Needs: Sphagnum moss (placed in containers) is the typical growing medium
    • Mature Size: 12 in. pitcher
  • 14 of 14

    Butterwort

    Butterworts (Pinguicula), also nicknamed "pings," are small herbaceous perennial plants that you may find success growing in your garden since some are native to Mexico and grow around the United States. They grow best outdoors in regions with mild winters and indoors as houseplants or in terrariums. It grows long-lasting flowers and rosettes of flat, sticky, hairy leaves designed to catch small prey like gnats, fruit flies, and springtails, secreting enzymes and acids to dissolve the prey.

    • Name: Butterworts (Pinguicula)
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3-10
    • Color Varieties: Yellow to purple flowers
    • Sun Exposure: Partial
    • Soil Needs: Succulent mix or gravelly, well-draining, dry to moist per type
    • Mature Size: 1/2-2 ft. tall
FAQ
  • What are some plants that eat flies?

    The Venus flytrap is your best bet if you are looking for a plant that eats flies. Sundews and various pitcher plants may also eat some types of flies.

  • Do carnivorous plants help with mosquitoes?

    Bladderworts may be the only carnivorous plant that may help a little bit with mosquito control, but not much to make a difference.

  • What is the largest plant that will eat bugs?

    Native to Borneo, the largest carnivorous plant that will eat bugs is the giant montane pitcher plant (Nepenthes rajah), a tropical pitcher plant. Its pitcher grows to 14 to 16 inches long and expands to hold about a gallon of water.

19 Unusual Houseplants to Grow at Home
The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Bladderwort. Missouri Department of Conservation.

  2. Pinguicula, the Butterworts. Botanical Society of America.

  3. Plants vs. mosquitos. Florida Department of Health.

  4. Carnivorous Plants: The Meat-Eaters of the Plant World. The Natural History Museum (London).