What do leeches feed on?

Answer 1

Contrary to popular belief, not all of them are bloodsuckers. In fact, many of them are sit-and-wait predators and feed on a variety of different invertebrates such as insects (gnats, mosquito larvae, water bugs), oligochaetes (both aquatic blackworms and their terrestrial cousins, the earthworms), amphipods (side swimmers), and lots of different kinds of molluscs including pond snails and freshwater clams. These predacious leeches are either engulfers (ie. they swallow their prey whole) or they are equipped with a protrusible proboscis which resembles a hypodermic needle. When not in use, the proboscis is retracted into the mouth, but when a leech has located a prey item, the proboscis pops out of the mouth and the leech uses it to spear its prey and then, once the prey is subdued, the leech uses the hollow proboscis like a soda straw and sucks up the juices of its prey.

Answer 2

Leeches eat small insects and molluscs some can even eat small fish

Leeches are eaten by fish... in fact they are used as fishing bait especially for catfish and salmon

Leeches can also drink blood. some are even used in medicine to drink bad blood or eat dead skin.

Answer 3

Most people think of leeches as nasty bloodsucking creatures with little or no

worth, and no interesting behaviors, let alone any parenting skills, but this

popular perception of them is way off the mark. A common misconception

about leeches is that there is only one kind of leech. In fact, there are between

700 and 1000 species of leeches worldwide and they can be found in a variety

of different habitats including marine, estuarine, moist terrestrial (particularly

in Australia and Southeast Asia) and freshwater ecosystems.

What do leeches eat?

Contrary to popular belief, not all of them are bloodsuckers. In fact, many of

them are sit-and-wait predators and feed on a variety of different invertebrates

such as insects (gnats, mosquito larvae, water bugs), oligochaetes (both

aquatic blackworms and their terrestrial cousins, the earthworms), amphipods

(side swimmers), and lots of different kinds of molluscs including pond snails

and freshwater clams. These predacious leeches are either engulfers (ie. they

swallow their prey whole) or they are equipped with a protrusible proboscis

which resembles a hypodermic needle. When not in use, the proboscis is

retracted into the mouth, but when a leech has located a prey item, the

proboscis pops out of the mouth and the leech uses it to spear its prey and

then, once the prey is subdued, the leech uses the hollow proboscis like a soda

straw and sucks up the juices of its prey.

Read more: What_type_of_foods_do_leeches_eat

Answer 4

Blood and dead flesh from a bloody rotten carecus