Insectivorous animals characteristics and examples

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Charles McCarthy
Insectivorous animals characteristics and examples

The insectivorous animals they are the ones that base their diet mainly on the intake of insects. However, not all insectivorous organisms are exclusively so. Thus, some may be at a stage of their development, as in the case of crocodiles. These reptiles consume insects only in the juvenile stage.

Within the animal kingdom, various classes have species that feed on insects. Despite this variety, which implies notable differences at the anatomical and morphological level, some of these animals have common characteristics.

Insectivorous animal. Source: pixabay.com

Among these is the existence of a long, flexible and sticky tongue. In addition, they have similarities in digestive processes, where specialized enzymes intervene, which contribute to the degradation of the insect's exoskeleton..

At present, insectivorous animals are being used as elements of biological pest control. This method is natural, stable, inexpensive and does not represent any ecological damage to the environment..

Due to this, they represent an excellent alternative to the traditional use of pesticides, which degrade and pollute ecosystems..

Article index

  • 1 Features
    • 1.1 - Digestive system
    • 1.2 - The senses
    • 1.3 - Hunting methods
    • 1.4 - Biological control
  • 2 Examples
    • 2.1 Birds
    • 2.2 Insects
    • 2.3 Reptiles
    • 2.4 Mammals
    • 2.5 Amphibians
  • 3 References 

Characteristics

- Digestive system

Tarsier

Due to the wide range of insectivorous species, the digestive system has very particular adaptations. For example, some have beaks, while in others, their jaws are keratinized, allowing you to cut through the body of the insect..

As for the anteater, it has its mouth at the distal end of a long snout. Also, this mammal lacks teeth. On the other hand, the Philippine tarsier (Carlito syrichta) has a strong jaw, which houses a group of teeth.

The tongue is another organ that has undergone modifications. In the vast majority of cases, the tongue is long, soft, and flexible. In some cases it can be prehensile, as in the chameleon.

Also, saliva has sticky properties. Thus, the frog's saliva is non-Newtonian, characterized in that the viscosity is not constant. This varies according to temperature and voltage.

Stomach

As for the stomach, it is characterized by having a strong musculature, since it requires digesting hard parts of the body of insects. In addition, there are compounds that are difficult to break down, such as chitin, which is why digestive enzymes are involved in this process..

In this sense, many vertebrates make a preselection of the material they are going to ingest. Thus, the animal consumes only the soft parts of the insect, discarding the hard ones, which generally correspond to the exoskeleton..

- The senses

The sense of hearing is highly specialized in most insectivorous animals. This is used to locate their prey. Such is the case of the bat, which uses echolocation to find and capture insects, in totally dark or low-light environments..

In relation to smell, it is highly developed. In addition, some have vibrissae, as occurs in some birds. These modified feathers, located around the beak, can detect the movement of insects and trap them.

- Hunting methods

Chameleon, a

The methods of capturing insects are very diverse. Chameleons and frogs shoot their tongues at considerable distances and catch their prey. This remains attached to your tongue, thanks to the fact that it is viscoelastic.

The moment the tongue hits the insect, it is deformed, thus surrounding the insect. Just then, the frog's non-Newtonian saliva changes viscosity, becoming more liquid. Thus, it soaks the insect, penetrating its cavities.

After this, the frog pulls its tongue back and the saliva thickens. In this way, it firmly holds the prey, preventing it from detaching while it is carried to the mouth..

Spiders

On the other hand, spiders can hunt their prey in three ways: by chasing them, stalking them, or capturing them in the web they have built. In the latter case, the arachnid remains in the net with its legs extended, in order to capture the vibrations produced by insects when they are trapped in it..

The anteater

Anteater

As for the anteater, it uses its sharp front claws to break up termite and ant colonies. Later, it introduces its long tongue, thus collecting larvae, eggs or adult insects. These remain attached to the tongue, thanks to the salivary glands secreting a sticky saliva that covers the entire oral organ.

- Biologic control

Traditionally, to control insects that are pests in agricultural crops, man uses chemical pesticides. These have serious environmental consequences, such as water and soil contamination and decreased soil fertility..

Also, biogeochemical cycles are altered, causing a decrease in biodiversity and global warming. In addition, these toxic agents lead to the local extinction of the natural predators of insects..

Faced with this situation, the proposal for biological control was born, using insectivorous animals. Thus, pests are eliminated, but without completely eradicating the insects. In this way, the ecological balance is maintained and the food chain is not affected..

Among the biocontrollers that have been used are wasps, frogs and some birds, among which are the robin and swallows..

One of the actions includes the placement of nest boxes and water tanks. In this way, the necessary conditions are created so that the birds can develop and grow as a population..

Innovations

Currently there is a proposal for the use of insectivorous bats as natural pest controllers. This lowers costs, providing protection to the crop. The methodology is based on the use of ultrasound, to direct the animal towards the sectors where the control of insects is required..

Examples

Birds

- Swallows. The diet of this bird consists almost exclusively of insects, such as mosquitoes, flies, crickets, flying ants, moths, beetles and dragonflies..

-Common swift. This bird feeds on flying insects. To hunt them, persistently hold the beak open while flying.

Insects

-Dragonflies They are insects that consume mosquitoes, butterflies, moths and other younger dragonflies.

-Scorpions This insectivorous animal eats crickets, cockroaches, and other arachnids. He catches them with his tweezers, while paralyzing them by injecting the venom.

Reptiles

-Salamanders Within the diet of this reptile are worms, dragonflies, centipedes and the eggs of some insects.

Salamander salamander. Source: pixabay.com

-Chameleons This animal consumes grasshoppers, crickets, mantises, cockroaches and stick insects.

Mammals

-Filipino tarsier. This small primate feeds mainly on grasshoppers and crickets, although it can also consume spiders and crustaceans.

-Tenrecs: Their diet is made up of grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, earthworms, beetle larvae and moths..

-Anteater. The diet of this mammal is based on termites and ants and termites.

Amphibians

- Frogs and toads. These amphibians capture various insects with their tongue, including crickets and fruit flies..

References

  1. Sawe, Benjamin Elisha (2019). 10 Animals That Are Insectivators. Recovered from worldatlas.com.
  2. Wikipedia (2019). Insectivare. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
  3. Jorge Meltzer Gómez‐ (2014). Avian control of invertebrate pests in woody crops through strategic ecological restoration. Recovered from conama11.vsf.es.
  4. Consortium of State Universities of Chile (2016). UFRO will implement a pest control system through the use of insectivorous bats. Recovered from uestatales.cl.
  5. Carlos Sahumenszky (2017). They finally discover how frog saliva works: saliva is not an adhesive, but a non-Newtonian fluid. Recovered from gizmodo.com.

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