INSECT EATERS
With so many of these creepy crawlies around, somebody ought to control their population! And sure enough, these insect eating creatures do the job pretty well. For some, such as the anteater, pangolin and praying mantis, insects are their staple food. Others on the other hand eat insects to add a bit of flavour to their diet.
Ant eaters as the name implies, are obviouly insect eating mammals. Their habitats range from the tropical rainforest of Southern Mexico to Central America and Paraguay. Its skull is elongated, ears short, snouts tapered and mouth tubular. Ant eaters lack teeth, as it is not really neccessary. But it does have a long and sticky tongue to stick the ants onto the tongue. To help open up the nests of termites and ants, ant eaters make use of their long claws. Even though it has a good sense of smell, it lacks a sense of sight and hearing. Ant eaters hunts mainly at night. You can find one, in burrows of other animals or in trees and hollow logs.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://www.meerkat.org/mammals/ganteat.htm Has interesting facts about the Ant eater. |
| http://www.planetpets.simplenet.com/plntante.htm Has a couple of pictures of the Anteaters |
The aye-aye has a unique appearance and habits, making it the strangest of primates. About the size of a housecat, it has yellow eyes, grizzled brown fur, white-flecked on the body, a big bushy tail, bat-like ears and huge incisors separated by a considerable gap from few other teeth. Living only in the northern sector of the east coast rain forests of Madagascar, the aye-aye feeds on both fruit and insect larvae.
Able to bend in every direction, its long spindly middle finger is proved useful. It helps in tearing through the hard outer shell of fruits like coconuts and scraping away at fibrous fruits like mangos. The aye-aye’s mobile, oversized ears assist the creature in the detection of beetle grubs hidden underneath tree barks. Once found, the larvae are exposed by ripping off part of the overlaying bark with its four continuously growing incisors. The aye-aye probes the hole with its bony middle finger and transfers the larvae to its mouth.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://www.selu.com/bio/PrimateGallery/primates/ Daubentoniidae/Aye-aye.jpg Shows a rare picture taken of the Aye aye. A MUST SEE! |
| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/kalahari/ayeaye.html An interview with Eleanor Sterling, a scientist who has been studying the Aye aye. |
The sunbear is a small bear, in fact, the smallest of its kind. It lives in the tropical rainforests of Malaysia and on islands east to Borneo. The coat is fine with black colouration. It also has a distinct white or orange crescent markins on the chest. The sunbear is a very agile climber and often rob bees of their honey. It also eats on fruits and small animals. Sunbears can grow up to a height of 3.5 to 4.5 feet and as heavy as 27 to 65 kg.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_sunbear.htm Provides information on why the Malayan Sunbear falls under the endangered species list and the conservation actions that are being done. There is also a video. |
The "praying" mantis is not as holy as it seems. As a matter of fact, it is a viscous hunter and is known for it cannibalistic character. Upon seeing an insect that is of a reasonable distance, the mantis unfolds its 2 fore legs and grab the insect and returns to its praying position. To keep the insect from escaping, there is a row of spines along the fore legs. These actions are all done within a fraction of a second. As said earlier, is also a cannibal. This can be clearly seen during a mating. A female usually eats her mate during copulation. It is also believed that when a female rips the head of the male off his body, it triggers the copulating action.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://home5.inet.tele.dk/crypto/index.htm Has a lot of pictures and information on the different species of praying mantis |
The pangolin is a very weird mammal. Unlike any other mammals, it has scales on the body. These scales serve to protect them from insect bites; insects being their staple food. Living in the tropical parts of Africa and South East Asia, pagolins are highly developed for feeding on insects, such as ants and termites. Like the ant eater, it has strong claws which serves to rip the nests of ants and termites open and also long sticky tongue. Other than having scales to protect themselves, they too have the ability to close their eyes and ears to keep the insects out. To locate food, pangolins make use of their sharp sense of smell, even though their sense of sight and hearing are under developed. There are 3 Asian species of pangolins, them being, the Malayan, Chinese and Indian pangolins. They are of medium size.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/pholidota.html Has a general info about the pangolins, including diet and distribution. There's also a close up picture of a stuffed pangolin. |