insectivore

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A robber fly eating a hoverfly.

Robber fly, Pegesimallus sp., feeding on a beetle

An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures.

Although individually small, insects exist in enormous numbers and make up a very large part of the animal biomass in almost all non-marine environments. In Queensland pastures, for example, it is normal to have a greater total weight of Scarabaeidae larvae under the surface than of the beef cattle grazing above it.

A great many creatures depend on insects as their primary diet, and many that do not (and are thus not technically insectivores) nevertheless use insects as a protein supplement, particularly when they are breeding.

Examples of insectivores include nightingales, aardwolfs, echidnas, swallows, anteaters, carp, frogs, lizards, bats, and spiders. Insects also can be insectivores; examples are dragonflies, hornets, ladybugs, and praying mantises. Insectivory also features to various degrees amongst primates, such as marmosets and tamarins, ^[1] and indeed there is some suggestion that the earliest primates were nocturnal, arboreal insectivores. ^[2]

Insectivorous plants also exist, including the Venus flytrap, several types of pitcher plants, butterworts, sundews, bladderworts, the waterwheel plant, brocchinia bromeliads, and others. These generally grow in soils poor in nitrogen, which they obtain by trapping insects. Technically these plants are not strictly insectivorous, as they consume any animal small enough to be trapped by them; indeed, the larger varieties of pitcher plant have been known to consume small rodents and lizards.

See also

Look up insectivore in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Entomophagy
• Insectivora
• -vore

References

v • d • e Feeding behaviours Carnivores adult Hematophagy · Insectivore · Lepidophagy · Man-eater · Molluscivore · Mucophagy · Myrmecophagy · Ophiophagy · Piscivore · Spongivore reproductive Oophagy · Ovophagy · Paedophagy · Placentophagy · Breastfeeding · Weaning cannibalistic Cannibalism · Human cannibalism · Self-cannibalism · Sexual cannibalism Herbivores Folivore · Frugivore · Graminivore · Granivore · Nectarivore · Palynivore · Xylophagy · Osteophagy Others Phagocytosis · Bacterivore · Coprophagia · Detritivore · Fungivore · Geophagy · Omnivore Methods Apex predator · Bottom feeding · Browsing  · Hypercarnivore · Filter feeding · Grazing · Kleptoparasitism · Scavenging · Trophallaxis Predation · Antipredator adaptation · Carnivorous plant · Carnivorous fungus · Carnivorous protist · Category:Eating behaviors

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