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Herbivory is of extreme ecological importance and prevalence among insects.Perhaps one third (or 500,000) of all described species are herbivores. [4] Herbivorous insects are by far the most important animal pollinators, and constitute significant prey items for predatory animals, as well as acting as major parasites and predators of plants; parasitic species often induce the formation of galls.
They eat fallen fruit, leaves and roots, although they may sometimes climb trees to eat green fruit. [citation needed] They hoard food in small, buried stores. They sometimes eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds and even shellfish on the seashore. They may cause damage to sugarcane and banana plantations.
Kleiber's law describes the relationship between an animal's size and its feeding strategy, saying that larger animals need to eat less food per unit weight than smaller animals. [21] Kleiber's law states that the metabolic rate (q 0 ) of an animal is the mass of the animal (M) raised to the 3/4 power: q 0 =M 3/4
Placentophagy: eating placenta; 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.
In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Nectar as a food source presents a number of benefits as well as challenges.
With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described —of which around 1 million are insects —but it has been estimated there are over 7 million ...
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When haying, pikas harvest plants in a deliberate sequence, corresponding to their seasonal phenology. [11] They seem to assess the nutritional value of available food and harvest accordingly. Pikas select plants that have the higher caloric, protein, lipid, and water content. [11] Forbs and tall grass tend to be hayed more than eaten directly.