# Insectivore

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Organism which eats insects

For the now-abandoned mammal taxon, see [Insectivora](/source/Insectivora).

This [aardwolf](/source/Aardwolf) skull exhibits greatly reduced [molars](/source/Molar_(tooth)) and [carnassials](/source/Carnassial) teeth as they are unnecessary for any large, insectivorous animal subsisting on soft insects such as [termites](/source/Termite). The [dentition](/source/Dentition) of a [shrew](/source/Shrew) is very different. The aardwolf uses its [canine teeth](/source/Canine_teeth) in self-defence; accordingly, they have not been greatly reduced.

A [robber fly](/source/Asilidae) eating a [hoverfly](/source/Hoverfly)

The [giant anteater](/source/Giant_anteater), a large insectivorous mammal

An **insectivore** is a [carnivorous](/source/Carnivore) animal or plant which eats [insects](/source/Insect).[1] An alternative term is **entomophage**,[2] which can also refer to the [human practice of eating insects](/source/Entomophagy_in_humans).

The first vertebrate insectivores were [amphibians](/source/Amphibian). When they [evolved](/source/Evolved) 400 million years ago, the first amphibians were [piscivores](/source/Piscivores), with numerous sharp conical teeth, much like a modern [crocodile](/source/Crocodile). The same tooth arrangement is however also suited for eating animals with [exoskeletons](/source/Exoskeleton), thus the ability to eat insects can stem from piscivory.[3]

At one time, insectivorous [mammals](/source/Mammal) were [scientifically classified](/source/Scientific_classification) in an [order](/source/Order_(biology)) called [Insectivora](/source/Insectivora). This order is now abandoned, as not all insectivorous mammals are closely related. Most of the Insectivora [taxa](/source/Taxa) have been reclassified; those that have not yet been reclassified and found to be truly related to each other remain in the order [Eulipotyphla](/source/Eulipotyphla).

Although individually small, insects exist in enormous numbers. Insects make up a very large part of the animal biomass in almost all non-marine, non-polar environments. It has been estimated that the global insect biomass is in the region of 1012 kg (one [billion](/source/Billion) tons) with an estimated [population](/source/Population_(biology)) of 1018 (one billion billion, or [quintillion](/source/Quintillion)) organisms.[4]: 13 Many creatures depend on insects for their primary diet, and many that do not (and are thus not technically insectivores) nevertheless use insects as a [protein](/source/Protein) supplement, particularly when they are breeding.[5]

## Examples

Examples of insectivores include different kinds of species of [carp](/source/Carp), [opossum](/source/Opossum), [frogs](/source/Frog), [lizards](/source/Lizard) (e.g. [chameleons](/source/Chameleon), [geckos](/source/Gecko)), [nightingales](/source/Nightingale), [swallows](/source/Hirundinidae), [echidnas](/source/Echidna),[6] [numbats](/source/Numbat), [anteaters](/source/Anteater), [armadillos](/source/Armadillo), [aardvarks](/source/Aardvark), [pangolins](/source/Pangolin), [aardwolfs](/source/Aardwolf),[7] [bats](/source/Bat), and [spiders](/source/Spider). Even large mammals are recorded as eating insects;[5] the [sloth bear](/source/Sloth_bear) is perhaps the largest insectivore. Insects also can be insectivores; examples are [dragonflies](/source/Dragonfly), [hornets](/source/Hornet), [ladybugs](/source/Ladybug), [robber flies](/source/Asilidae), and [praying mantises](/source/Praying_mantis).[8]: 31 Insectivory also features to various degrees amongst [primates](/source/Primates), such as [marmosets](/source/Marmoset), [tamarins](/source/Tamarin), [tarsiers](/source/Tarsiers), [galagos](/source/Galagos) and [aye-aye](/source/Aye-aye).[9][10]: 56–57 There is some suggestion that the earliest primates were [nocturnal](/source/Nocturnal), [arboreal](/source/Arboreal) insectivores.[11]

## Insectivorous plants

Main article: [Insectivorous plants](/source/Insectivorous_plants)

*[Drosera species](/source/Drosera_capensis)*

[Insectivorous plants](/source/Carnivorous_plant) are plants that derive some of their [nutrients](/source/Nutrient) from trapping and consuming animals or [protozoan](/source/Protozoan). The benefit they derive from their catch varies considerably; in some species, it might include a small part of their nutrient intake and in others it might be an indispensable source of nutrients. As a rule, however, such animal food, however valuable it might be as a source of certain critically important minerals, is not the plants' major source of [energy](/source/Energy), which they generally derive mainly from photosynthesis.[12]: 14

Insectivorous plants might consume insects and other animal material trapped adventitiously. However, most species to which such food represents an important part of their intake are specifically, often spectacularly, adapted to attract and secure adequate supplies. Their prey animals typically, but not exclusively, comprise [insects](/source/Insect) and other [arthropods](/source/Arthropod). Plants highly adapted to reliance on animal food use a variety of mechanisms to secure their prey, such as pitfalls, sticky surfaces, hair-trigger snaps, bladder-traps, entangling furriness, and lobster-pot trap mechanisms.[12]: 14–17 Also known as *carnivorous plants*, they appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially [nitrogen](/source/Nitrogen), such as acidic [bogs](/source/Bog) and rock outcroppings.[12]: 13

Insectivorous plants include the [Venus flytrap](/source/Venus_flytrap), several types of [pitcher plants](/source/Pitcher_plant), [butterworts](/source/Butterwort), [sundews](/source/Sundew), [bladderworts](/source/Bladderwort), the [waterwheel plant](/source/Waterwheel_plant), [brocchinia](/source/Brocchinia) and many members of the [Bromeliaceae](/source/Bromeliaceae). The list is far from complete, and some plants, such as [Roridula](/source/Roridula) species, exploit the prey organisms mainly in a mutualistic relationship with other creatures, such as resident organisms that contribute to the digestion of prey. In particular, animal prey organisms supply carnivorous plants with nitrogen, but they also are important sources of various other soluble minerals, such as potassium and trace elements that are in short supply in environments where the plants flourish. This gives them a decisive advantage over other plants, whereas in nutrient-rich soils they tend to be out-competed by plants adapted to aggressive growth where nutrient supplies are not the major constraints.

Technically these plants are not strictly insectivorous, as they consume any animal that they can secure and consume; the distinction is trivial, however, because not many primarily insectivorous organisms exclusively consume insects. Most of those that do have such a restrictive diet, such as certain [parasitoids](/source/Parasitoid) and [hunting wasps](/source/Hunting_wasp), are specialized to exploit particular species, not insects in general. Indeed, much as large mantids and spiders will do, the larger varieties of pitcher plants have been known to consume [vertebrates](/source/Vertebrate) such as small rodents and lizards.[12]: 13 [Charles Darwin](/source/Charles_Darwin) wrote the [first well-known treatise on carnivorous plants](/source/Insectivorous_Plants_(book)) in 1875.[13]

## See also

- [Entomophagy](/source/Entomophagy)

- [Consumer-resource systems](/source/Consumer-resource_systems)

- [Insectivora](/source/Insectivora)

- [List of feeding behaviours](/source/List_of_feeding_behaviours)

- The dictionary definition of [*insectivore*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/insectivore) at Wiktionary

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Miller, George A. (2009). ["Article for *insectivorous*"](http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=insectivorous). *WordNet*. Princeton University. Retrieved 1 April 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Gullan, P.J.; Cranston, P.S. (2005). [*The Insects: An outline of entomology*](https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781405111133/page/455). [Malden, MA](/source/Malden%2C_Massachusetts): [Blackwell Publishing](/source/Blackwell_Publishing). p. 455. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4051-1113-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4051-1113-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-SahneyBentonFerry2010RainforestCollapse_3-0)** Sahney, S.; Benton, M.J.; Falcon-Lang, H.J. (2010). ["Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica"](http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/38/12/1079) (PDF). *Geology*. **38** (12): 1079–1082. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2010Geo....38.1079S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Geo....38.1079S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1130/G31182.1](https://doi.org/10.1130%2FG31182.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Dudley, Robert (2002). ["Flight and the Pterygote Insecta"](https://books.google.com/books?id=hTIMhD9BF1kC&pg=PA13). *The Biomechanics of Insect Flight: Form, function, evolution*. [Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press). pp. 3–35. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-09491-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-691-09491-5).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-cascades_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-cascades_5-1) Whitney, Stephen R.; Sandelin, R. (2004). [*Field Guide to the Cascades & Olympics*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5YQsJTwkD2AC). The Mountaineers Books. p. 317. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-89886-808-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-89886-808-1). Retrieved 1 April 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-echidnainfo_6-0)** [""Long-beaked Echidna (Zaglossus bruijni)" (entry)"](http://www.animalinfo.org/species/zaglbrui.htm). *animalinfo.org*. West of Scotland & Ayr Group. Retrieved 1 April 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Holekamp, Kay E. ["Aardwolf (*Proteles cristata*)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100417192844/http://www.hyaenidae.org/the-hyaenidae/aardwolf-proteles-cristatus.html). www.animalinfo.org. Archived from [the original](http://www.hyaenidae.org/the-hyaenidae/aardwolf-proteles-cristatus.html) on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Hill, Dennis S. (1997). [*The Economic Importance of Insects*](https://books.google.com/books?id=RKQIAqMyBJgC). Springer. p. 198. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-412-49800-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-412-49800-8). Retrieved 1 April 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-JonesMartinPilbeam_9-0)** Stetoff, Rebecca (2006). [*The Primate Order*](https://books.google.com/books?id=akbsqE8-ar4C). Marshall Cavendish. p. 92. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7614-1816-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7614-1816-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Jones, S.; Martin, R.; Pilbeam, D., eds. (1994). [*The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution*](https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencyclo00step). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-32370-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-32370-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Weiss&Mann_11-0)** Weiss, M.L.; Mann, A.E. (1985). *Human Biology and Behaviour: An anthropological perspective*. Boston, MA: Little Brown & Co. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-673-39013-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-673-39013-6).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Slack_&_Gate_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Slack_&_Gate_12-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Slack_&_Gate_12-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Slack_&_Gate_12-3) Slack, Adrian; Gate, Jane (2000). *Carnivorous Plants*. MIT Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-262-69089-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-262-69089-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-darwin1875_13-0)** [Darwin, C.](/source/Charles_Darwin) (1875). [*Insectivorous Plants*](https://web.archive.org/web/20060923021622/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin3/insectivorous/insect01.htm). London, UK: John Murray. Archived from [the original](http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin3/insectivorous/insect01.htm) on 23 September 2006.

v t e Feeding behaviours Carnivores adult Arachnophagy Avivore Corallivore Durophagy Egg predation Entomophagy Hematophagy Insectivore Lepidophagy Man-eating animal Molluscivore Mucophagy Myrmecophagy Ophiophagy Piscivore Spongivore Vermivore reproductive Oophagy Paedophagy Placentophagy Breastfeeding Weaning cannibalistic Human cannibalism Autocannibalism Sexual cannibalism Herbivores Folivore Florivore Frugivore Graminivore Seed predation Nectarivore Mellivory Palynivore Xylophagy Osteophagy Cellular Phagocytosis Myzocytosis Others Microbivory Bacterivore Fungivore Coprophagia Detritivore Geophagia Omnivore Planktivore Saprophagy Xenophagy Lithotroph Plastivore Pica Methods Predation Ambush predator Apex predator Egg predator Intraguild predator Pursuit predator Aquatic predation Lunge feeder Pivot feeder Ram feeder Suction feeder Bait balls Bottom feeder Feeding frenzy Filter feeder Browsing Cattle feeding Fodder Grazing Forage Hypercarnivore Hypocarnivore Mesocarnivore Parasitism Kleptoparasitism Scavenger Necrophage Surplus killing Trophallaxis Antipredator adaptation Carnivorous plant Carnivorous fungus Carnivorous protist Category:Eating behaviors

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Insectivore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectivore) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectivore?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.