Insectivore in the context of "Bat"

Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.

Traditionally, pterosaurs were divided into two major types. Basal pterosaurs (also called non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs or 'rhamphorhynchoids') were smaller animals, up to two meter wingspan, with fully toothed jaws and, typically, long tails. Their wide wing membranes probably included and connected the hindlimbs. On the ground, they would have had an awkward sprawling posture due to short metacarpals, but the anatomy of their joints and strong claws would have made them effective climbers, and some may have lived in trees. Basal pterosaurs were insectivores, piscivores or predators of small land vertebrates. Later pterosaurs (pterodactyloids) evolved many sizes, shapes, and lifestyles. Pterodactyloids had narrower wings with free hindlimbs, highly reduced tails, and long necks with large heads. On the ground, they walked well on all four limbs due to long metacarpals with an upright posture, standing plantigrade on the hind feet and folding the wing finger upward to walk on the metacarpals with the three smaller fingers of the hand pointing to the rear. They could take off from the ground, and fossil trackways show that at least some species were able to run, wade, and/or swim. Their jaws had horny beaks, and some groups lacked teeth. Some groups developed elaborate head crests with sexual dimorphism. Since 2010 it is understood that many species, the basal Monofenestrata, were intermediate in build, combining an advanced long skull with long tails.

Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perceived resemblance between their long noses and the trunk of an elephant, and their superficial similarity with shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Eulipotyphla. However, phylogenetic analysis has revealed that elephant shrews are not properly classified with true shrews, but are in fact more closely related to elephants than to shrews. In 1997, the biologist Jonathan Kingdon proposed that they instead be called "sengis" (singular sengi), a term derived from the Bantu languages of Africa, and in 1998, they were classified into the new clade Afrotheria.

They are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn outcrops in South Africa to thick forest. One species, the North African elephant shrew, remains in the semi-arid, mountainous country in the far northwest of Africa. The Somali elephant shrew went unobserved from 1968 to 2020 but was rediscovered by a group of scientists in Djibouti.

Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin vorare, meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγεῖν (phagein), meaning "to eat".

Galliformes /ˌɡælɪˈfɔːrmiːz/, also known as gallinaceous birds or landfowl, is an order of heavy-bodied terrestrial birds that contains about 290 species. The order is divided into five families: Phasianidae (chicken and junglefowls, Old World quails, partridges, pheasants, turkeys, peafowl and grouse), Odontophoridae (New World quails), Numididae (guinea fowl), Cracidae (including chachalacas and curassows), and Megapodiidae (incubator birds like malleefowl and brushturkeys). Galliformes and the semi-aquatic order Anseriformes (waterfowl) are collectively called fowl.

Galliform birds have adapted to most environments except innermost deserts and perpetually icy regions, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica. They are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and insectivores/vermivores, and many are skilled ground-dwellers that escape predators by running rather than flying. They are sexually dimorphic, and males of most species are more colorful than the females, with often elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, and vocal sounds. They are mainly non-migratory.

A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some midges, such as many Phlebotominae (sand fly) and Simuliidae (black fly), are vectors of various diseases. Many others play useful roles as prey for insectivores, such as various frogs and swallows. Others are important as detritivores, and form part of various nutrient cycles. The habits of midges vary greatly from species to species, though within any given family midges commonly have similar ecological roles.

Examples of families that include species of midges include:

Hoverflies, also called flower flies or syrphids, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, specifically detritivores, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores, preying on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.

Insects such as aphids are considered crop pests, so the aphid-eating larvae of some hoverflies are economically and ecologically important. The larvae are potential agents for use in biological control, while the adults are pollinators.