What is an Insectivore?

You've probably heard of herbivores and carnivores. Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat meat, but how do you describe an animal that only eats bugs? That's a special kind of carnivore that we call an "insectivore." Insectivores range from other insects and invertebrates like spiders, to large mammals like the aardvark, and even humans! Although insects are small, there are countless numbers of them and they are dense with nutrients. Insectivores play an important role in our ecosystem by keeping pest numbers low. Also, they allow the energy transfer up the food chain as larger predators then consume the insectivore. Of course, if you'd rather hang out with bugs instead of eating them, we do that here too!