Invertebrates, especially arthropods, are animals that provide many nutrients to those animals that consume them, such as high-quality protein and fat. In the Animal Kingdom, there are many beings that feed on insects or other invertebrates, including humans, and we do not have to visit countries in East Asia or Central America because in Europe, to the south, it is very common to eat snails.
In this article on our site we will define what the insectivorous animals are, what their characteristics are and we will also show some of the animals that appear in the list of insectivorous animals.
What are insectivorous animals?
The term "insectivore" in reference to animals refers to a type of feeding in which invertebrates are consumed, such as arachnids, worms, snails and also insects. Insectivorous animals are those that, being vertebrate animals, base their diet on invertebrates and could not live without them. Other animals use invertebrates as a high-protein supplement to their diet.
Also discover some examples of vertebrate and invertebrate animals on our site.
Characteristics of insectivorous animals
Determining the general characteristics of insectivorous animals is very complicated, because we find this type of animal in all groups of vertebrates, from fish to mammals. Some will possess all these qualities and others only one:
- Those insectivorous animals that feed mainly on arthropods will need a stomach with a robust surface, since the exoskeleton of arthropods is composed of mainly chitin, a material that is difficult to digest. On the other hand, arthropods are usually ingested whole, so it is the stomach's job to mechanically digest and grind the food, so its walls must be thick and strong.
- Many insectivorous animals have the tongue modified so that it becomes extremely long and sticky. This is the case for many amphibians and reptiles, but also birds and mammals.
- Animals that do not have a long tongue to capture prey from a distance need other specialized organs to procure food.
- Certain insectivorous animals use echolocation to capture prey at night.
- Insectivorous birds have sensitive hairs around their beaks called vibrisas. These hairs detect the flight of insects that pass relatively close to its head.
- Other insectivorous animals discover their prey through smell. The nose in these animals is highly developed, as they tend to look for invertebrates that are found under the ground.
- Finally, in almost all cases, these animals have perfect vision, capable of detecting small movements from meters away.
Examples of insectivorous animals
The insectivorous diet includes mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish. Do you want to know them? Below we will talk in detail about these animals and some representative species:
Insective mammals
Within mammals we find several examples of insectivores, each with its own characteristics and peculiarities. The insectivorous bats detect their prey, almost always moths, through echolocation, they are usually very small bats. Some of their prey have also developed an echolocation organ, being able to confuse bats in their attempts to capture them. Some examples are the Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) or the Australian False Vampire Bat (Macroderma gigas).
Another example of insectivorous mammals are the shrews, such as the common shrew (Crocidura russula), the garden shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) or the pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus). They are fearsome nocturnal predators for invertebrates, their sense of smell is infallible.
The hedgehogs are also insectivorous animals, in fact, more and more people have a hedgehog as a pet, to Despite their nocturnal habits and insect-based diet, some of the hedgehog species are:
- Manchurian hedgehog (Erinaceus amurensis)
- Oriental dark hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor)
- Common or European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
- Balkan hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus)
- White-bellied hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)
- Moorish hedgehog (Atelerix algirus)
- Somali hedgehog (Atelerix sclateri)
- South African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis)
- Egyptian hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus)
- Indian long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus collaris)
- Gobi Hedgehog (Mesechinus dauuricus)
- Hug's Hedgehog (Mesechinus hughi)
- Ethiopian hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus)
- Indian hedgehog (Paraechinus micropus)
- Brandt's hedgehog (Paraechinus hypomelas)
- Bare-bellied hedgehog (Paraechinus nudiventris)
Furthermore, along with a developed sense of smell, the anteater also has a long tongue that can be introduced into anthills or termite mounds. Some species are the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the pygmy anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), and the Amazonian anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla).
To finish this section on mammalian insectivorous animals, we will share a video from National Geographic Spain that shows another of the insectivorous animals, the pangolin, that feeds on ants and termites:
Insectivorous birds
The insectivorous birds are usually characterized by the presence of whiskers next to the beak, this is the case of swallows, swifts or airplanes Others have developed a long sticky tongue to capture invertebrates inside the hollows of trees, such as the woodpecker.
Some species of insectivorous birds are:
- Common Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
- House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
- Little Owl (Athene noctua)
- Gray flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
- Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
- Brown-bellied Swallow (Notiochelidon murina)
- Barn Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
- Australian Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
- Black Swallow (Hirundo nigrita)
- Common Swift (Apus apus)
- Pacific Swift (Apus pacificus)
- Eastern Swift (Apus nipalensis)
- Caffir Swift (Apus caffer)
Insectivorous reptiles
There are also insectivorous reptiles, a clear example is the chameleonsThese animals combine their long tongue with spectacular vision, capable of moving their eyes independently. However, there are many more species of insectivorous reptiles worth knowing about:
- Panther Chameleon (Furcifer pardalis)
- Parson's Chameleon (Calumma parsonii)
- Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)
- Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus)
- Armadillo Lizard (Cordylus cataphractus)
- Santo Domingo Curly Lizard (Leiocephalus lunatus)
- Blue Lizard (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus)
- Sonoran shovel-nosed snake (Chionactis palarostris)
- Northwest shovel-nosed snake (Chionactis occipitalis)
- Yellow-eared slider (Trachemys scripta scripta)
Insectivorous amphibians
The frogs and toads are also mostly insectivorous animals. In addition to their language, their vision has been extensively studied, the way they detect animals and the mechanism they use to differentiate what is food and what is not. Some species of insectivorous amphibians are:
- Country Frog (Rana arvalis)
- Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)
- Iberian frog or long-legged frog (Rana iberica)
- Grass Frog (Rana temporaria)
- Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana mucosa)
- Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni)
- Flying Frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus)
- South African Black Frog (Breviceps fuscus)
- Mossy frog (Theloderma corticale)
- Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas)
- Golden frog (Phyllobates terribilis)
- Blue Arrow Frog (Dendrobates azureus)
- Harlequin Frog (Atelopus varius)
Insectivorous fish
Among the fish we also find insectivorous species. Many freshwater fish feed on developing larvae in the water. Other fish, called archer fish, are capable of launching jets of water to catch insects that are outside of it, so that they fall and be able to capture them.