What Organisms Eat Insects

Reptiles and Amphibians

• Perhaps the best-known insect eaters are reptiles and amphibians. Frogs use their long, sticky tongues to snatch flies and other insects out of the air. Many varieties of snakes also eat insects in addition to or instead of small rodents and other animals. Geckos are carnivores who primarily feed on insects, though they also eat young birds, eggs and tiny mammals. Other examples of reptiles and amphibians that eat insects are newts, frilled lizards and salamanders.

Birds

• Many birds subsist primarily or entirely on spiders, insects and worms. The American robin is one such bird. Others include the American tree swallow and the Eastern bluebird. The woodpecker uses its long beak to peck into trees and extract insects to eat. An insect eating bird that dwells in the Central and South American rainforests is the xenops. Some birds, like the nightingale, have a diet that includes berries and seeds as well as insects.

Mammals

• Despite the relatively large bulk most mammals have compared to birds, reptiles and amphibians, there are some mammals that subsist partially or entirely on insects. Anteaters are a well-known example. Anteaters survive almost entirely on ants and termites by using their long, thin, sticky tongues to extract them from holes. Other mammals that eat insects include the mole, the hedgehog, the armadillo and a few unusual mammals like the egg-laying echidna and the scaly pangolin.

Plants

• There are even plant species that eat insects. Carnivorous plants secrete specialized enzymes or develop symbiotic relationships with bacteria or small insects that break down their prey into digestible nutrients. The most famous carnivorous plant is probably the Venus fly trap, which lures insects between two leaf lobes that snap shut when the prey brushes sensitive hairs inside the plant. Other carnivorous plants use different means of snaring insects, among them the pitcher plant, whose slick, steep walls lead down into a small pool of liquid where insects drown and are digested.