An insectivore is an animal or a plant that feeds on insects.At one time in the history of science, many insectivorous mammals were placed into a single order called Insectivora.However, this order was abandoned as quickly as it was established, since scientists discovered that these mammals that consumed insects were not closely related. Insects are as important as animals and birds. Just because they are tiny beings doesn’t mean that they are irrelevant. In fact, insects make up a huge proportion of the animal biomass in almost every non-marine ad non-cold environment. Many animals, birds, and insects themselves are known to depend on insects for food. If you look at insectivores, apart from sharing similar dietary patterns, they are also mostly either ground dwellers or those that dwell in trees.Most insectivores also have special olfactory lobes in their brains which make it easy for them to smell and sniff out these insects. Insectivores come in different shapes and sizes, like wasps, dragonflies, moths, small lizards, golden moles, bats, hedgehogs, giant anteaters, rodents, shrews, and birds. There are even plants that don’t rely on sunlight and water alone but also derive their required nutrients from the carcasses of insects that fit into their traps. Some of these plant species are the venus flytrap, pitcher plant, butterwort plant, and cobra lily!These plants are not strictly insectivorous as they can prey on the bodies of small creatures or tiny animals too. Most species of insectivores that initially belonged to the order Insectivora were shrews, hedgehogs, and tenrecs (mammals that come from the family Tenrecidae). Another similarity between all these animals that eat insects is that they are nocturnal mammals! Shrews are the smallest and lightest insectivores, and, in particular, the white-toothed pygmy shrew is the smallest and lightest mammal of them all! Shrews are known to move quite fast, and their speed is largely dependant on their age too.Shrews have poor eyesight but have excellent hearing and smell. This allows them to avoid being prey to large predators and to detect food like insects. Hedgehogs are called ‘hedgehogs’ for their unique foraging behaviors, and their long snouts provide them with an enhanced sense of smell which makes hunting invertebrates extremely easy. Again the eyesight in these animals is not very good.Tenrecs are a mammal species that are very alike in appearance to hedgehogs. Although they mainly feed on insects and other invertebrates, they are said to be omnivorous by some scientists as they eat small bird eggs too! Another common feature with this mammal group is that they all have small eyes, further contributing to their poor or weakened eyesight, and sharp teeth, making it easy to bite into the hard body of an insect.Bats are another species of mammals who are also insectivores, as bats feed on insects almost half their body weight! There is a primate species that is also thought to be purely insectivorous. This primate is called the tarsier!If you enjoy this article on insectivores, be sure to check out our articles on bug facts for kids and insect body parts that you are sure to enjoy!Insectivore meaning and significanceInsectivores are a group of species that feed on insects as a major part of their diet. The order Insectivora was considered to be a group of mammals that fed on insects, but this order soon became obsolete when scientists pointed out many faults with the order.Insectivores build a prey-predator relation and cause a balance to occur in the natural ecosystem. Insectivores also do a huge favor for us humans, as insects can be great pests. By consuming them, they control insect populations. Apart from sharing the same diet, insectivores tend to have other similar features and characteristics too. In general, insectivores have long snouts, small beady eyes, small to no ears, short legs with clawed feet, and teeth that are primitive, sharp, and adapted to make biting into the hard bodies of insects easy.The feature of a long snout in these beings makes it easy for them to sniff out insects, and some species also possess an excellent sense of hearing. An insectivorous animal is also mostly a nocturnal animal. Apart from these general commonalities, species of the insectivore family vary in different areas.What does an organism have to have to be in the insectivore order?To be in the order Insectivora, an organism needs to feed on insects, and insects should be a major component of their diet.Insect-eating species usually tend to make their habitats in places where they have easy access to their food. These places tend to be on trees, branches or under the ground, which are home to a large variety of insect species. For instance, many bird species that live in trees feed their young ones lots of insects, and living on trees makes these insects readily available.Would insectivores eat meat?This question is one that has created plenty of doubts among scientists and researchers as they are still trying to come up with an answer to this.The majority of scientists claim that an insectivore is a type of carnivore that, apart from insects, also feeds on small animals. For example, insectivorous plants, like the pitcher plant, Venus flytrap, and brocchinia, capture prey like insects, but they also capture small and tiny animals too. Therefore, even with animals, they might feed purely on insects, but they will also have a little meat when the opportunity arises.Is a hedgehog an insectivore?Hedgehogs are not purely insectivorous. Their diet consists of insects, but hedgehogs are also seen to eat fruits, eggs and the chicks of certain birds.Hedgehogs mostly love eating foods like snails, slugs, worms, and caterpillars. Their closest family members are shrews and moles, who are slightly different from hedgehogs. Moles are burrowing animals that love eating worms. Shrews are small ground dwellers with a high metabolic rate, so they consume a portion of insects that is many times their own bodyweight!Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for ‘What are insectivore creatures?’ then why not take a look at ‘How is glitter made?’ or ‘How is copper made’?
An insectivore is an animal or a plant that feeds on insects.
