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A banana slug feeding on Amanita. Many terrestrial gastropod mollusks are known to feed on fungi. It is the case in several species of slugs from distinct families.Among them are the Philomycidae (e. g. Philomycus carolinianus and Phylomicus flexuolaris) and Ariolimacidae (Ariolimax californianus), which respectively feed on slime molds (myxomycetes) and mushrooms (basidiomycetes). [5]
They usually live in soil and many species trap or stun nematodes (nematophagous fungus), while others attack amoebae or collembola. Fungi that grow on the epidermis, hair, skin, nails, scales or feathers of living or dead animals are considered to be dermatophytes rather than carnivores. Similarly, fungi in orifices and the digestive tract of ...
Trophallaxis: eating food regurgitated by another animal; Zoopharmacognosy: self-medication by eating plants, soils, and insects to treat and prevent disease. An opportunistic feeder sustains itself from a number of different food sources, because the species is behaviourally sufficiently flexible.
Sometimes, useful and harmful species are found in one genus, e.g. Pharaxonotha. Most pleasing fungus beetles, however, are inoffensive animals of little significance to humans. The oldest fossil is an undescribed species known from Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber. [4]
[28] [29] Notable examples of fungivore slugs include members of the family Philomycidae, which feed on slime molds (myxomycetes), and the Ariolimacidae, which primarily consume mushrooms (basidiomycetes). [29] Snail families that contain fungivore species include Clausiliidae, [30] Macrocyclidae, [31] and Polygyridae. [32]
The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
[citation needed] Typical saprophagic animals include sedentary polychaetes such as amphitrites (Amphitritinae, worms of the family Terebellidae) and other terebellids. The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as xylophagy. The activity of animals feeding only on dead wood is called sapro-xylophagy and those animals, sapro-xylophagous.
The mongoose is a species of mesocarnivores which are mainly located in Africa, southern Asia and southern Europe. They are known for their predatory attacks on snakes. The meerkat is known as a part of the mongoose family of mesocarnivores. Mongooses are animals with physical features including short legs, pointed snout, minute ears and a long ...