Knowra Insectivory Insectivory Insectivory is a feeding strategy in which animals obtain much of their food by eating insects and other arthropods. It occurs across many unrelated animal groups.
Echolocation : Echolocation is sensing surroundings by emitting sounds and interpreting their returning echoes. Bats use returning echoes to locate flying insects in darkness.
Anteater : Anteaters are mammals of the suborder Vermilingua, specialized for feeding on ants and termites. Their long snouts, reduced teeth, and extensible tongues suit them to colonial insects.
Arthropod : Arthropods are invertebrates with segmented bodies, jointed appendages, and an external skeleton. Insectivores often eat spiders and other arthropods as well as insects.
Biological pest control : Biological pest control uses living organisms to suppress populations of organisms considered harmful. Bats, birds, and other insectivores can reduce agricultural insect pests.
Carnivory : Carnivory is a feeding strategy based on consuming other animals. Insectivory is a narrower form of animal-eating defined by arthropod prey.
Venom : Venom is a biological secretion that disrupts another organism’s physiology when delivered through a wound. Some shrews and other insect-eating mammals use venom to immobilize prey.
Aardvark : The aardvark is an African mammal that feeds mainly on ants and termites. It excavates insect nests with powerful claws and collects prey with a long tongue.
Insect : Insects are six-legged arthropods with bodies divided into head, thorax, and abdomen. They are the most familiar prey group within insectivorous diets.
Trophic cascade : A trophic cascade occurs when changes at one food-web level indirectly affect other levels. Removing insectivorous predators can alter arthropod abundance and plant damage.
Myrmecophagy : Myrmecophagy is a feeding strategy centered on eating ants. It is a narrower specialization than insectivory, which includes many arthropods.
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