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Dietary specialization is one of the most interesting topics to be studied in all of nature. Mammals and birds have a few examples of dietary specialists, but they are easily overshadowed and forgotten when you start looking at insects.

Sunbirds are designed to eat mostly nectar, but they will also eat insects and spiders, especially when they are busy rearing young.

Panda's have a very demanding diet specialization, as their diet consists 99% out of bamboo shoots, stems and leaves. The demanding part comes in that bamboo shoots and leaves aren't very nutritious, thus a panda must eat almost all of it's waking time to survive. The remaining one percent of their diet consist of eggs, small mammals and carrion.

Both sunbirds and Panda's are thus very specialized within birds and mammals, but in insect terms they will potentially be seen as loosely specialized.

The Ringbum Millipede Muncher does exactly what their name suggests. They primarily hunt, kill and feed on millipedes, they will, however, also hunt and eat beetles and millipedes. A queen will only start laying eggs and develop brood when she has started finding and killing millipedes. Without millipedes in their diet the first workers will take anything from 6-8 times longer to be produced.

The best and clearest example of dietary specialization from ants must be the Matebele ants. These ants are designed and built to find and eat their favorite prey, Termites. A single worker, also known as a scout, will go out looking for a termite nest. Once found the lone scout will enter the termite nest, investigate the nest structure and get out all while avoiding any contact with the termites. The scout will then return to its nest to recruit a battalion to raid the termite nest. The scout will be in the front of the battalion leading them into the termite nest. Matebele ant workers occur in a smooth range from the smallest to the largest sizes. The small worker in the battalion will enter the termite nest during a raid to collect and pile up termites just outside the entrance. The large workers will then grab the termites in bunches and carry them back to their nest for the Matebele ants to feed on.

Imagine only eating one food type for the rest of your life!

Weekly Top Shot: Ringbum Millipede Muncher

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