Diet · 34 species
Insectivores
Animals that eat mainly insects and other small invertebrates, from bats and anteaters to swallows.
Species profiles
American toad
Anaxyrus americanus
The American toad is the common warty toad of eastern North America: its size, colors, long musical trill, garden and woodland habitat, breeding and lifespan.
Arizona bark scorpion
Centruroides sculpturatus
The Arizona bark scorpion is a small, pale scorpion of the Sonoran Desert and the most venomous in the US. Size, climbing habits, young, venom and real risk.
Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
The barn swallow is the world's most widespread swallow: a fork-tailed insect hunter that nests in barns and migrates between continents. Size, diet, lifespan.
Cane toad
Rhinella marina
The cane toad is a huge, toxic toad native to the Americas that became a notorious invader in Australia, Florida and Pacific islands. Size, toxins, life cycle.
Common green darner
Anax junius
The common green darner is a large North American dragonfly with a green thorax and blue abdomen. Its size, hunting, nymphs and multigeneration migration.
Common pipistrelle
Pipistrellus pipistrellus
The common pipistrelle is a tiny European bat weighing 3.5–8.5 g that eats up to thousands of midges a night. Facts on its size, calls, roosts and protection.
Common swift
Apus apus
The common swift is a dark, sickle-winged bird that feeds, drinks and sleeps on the wing for most of the year. Size, diet, nesting, migration and decline.
Common toad
Bufo bufo
The common toad is Europe's familiar warty brown toad, up to 12 cm long. Its copper eyes, skin toxins, night hunting, spring migrations, spawn and lifespan.
Deathstalker
Leiurus quinquestriatus
The deathstalker is a pale yellow desert scorpion of North Africa with one of the most potent scorpion venoms known. Size, range, hunting, young and real risk.
European hedgehog
Erinaceus europaeus
The European hedgehog is a small spiny insect-eater of Europe's gardens and hedgerows. Facts on its spines, diet, hibernation, hoglets, lifespan and decline.
European hornet
Vespa crabro
The European hornet is Europe's largest social wasp, up to 35 mm long. Facts on its colors, hollow-tree nests, insect hunting, night flights and sting risk.
European robin
Erithacus rubecula
The European robin is a small orange-breasted songbird of Europe's gardens and woods. Facts on its size, song, fierce territories, nests, lifespan and range.
Giant anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
The giant anteater is a toothless, ant-eating mammal of Central and South America. Facts on its size, long tongue, huge claws, babies, range and its status.
Golden poison frog
Phyllobates terribilis
The golden poison frog of Colombia's Pacific rainforest may be the most poisonous animal alive. Its batrachotoxin, diet, color forms, dart use and status.
House centipede
Scutigera coleoptrata
The house centipede has 15 pairs of long legs, runs about 0.4 m (1.3 ft) per second and hunts insects in homes. Its size, eyes, venom, range and lifespan.
Leopard gecko
Eublepharis macularius
The leopard gecko is a spotted, ground-dwelling gecko of dry grassland and rocky hills in South Asia. Wild facts on its eyelids, fat tail, diet and breeding.
Little brown bat
Myotis lucifugus
The little brown bat is a small North American insect-eating bat that can live over 30 years. Size, echolocation, colonies, hibernation and white-nose syndrome.
Nine-banded armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
The nine-banded armadillo is an armored, insect-eating mammal and the only armadillo in the US. Its shell, size, diet, quadruplet births and spread north.
Northern giant hornet
Vespa mandarinia
The northern giant hornet, or Asian giant hornet, is the world's largest hornet. Facts on its size, range, sting, honey bee raids and stay in North America.
Panther chameleon
Furcifer pardalis
The panther chameleon is Madagascar's most colorful chameleon. Facts on its color forms, rival displays, tongue, eyes, size, short wild life and breeding.
Pileated woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
The pileated woodpecker is North America's largest common woodpecker, a crow-sized bird with a red crest. Facts on its size, carpenter ant diet, nests, range.
Praying mantis
Mantis religiosa
The praying mantis is a green or brown ambush hunter 5–8 cm long with spiny grasping forelegs. How it hunts, sees in 3D, mates and survives winter as an egg.
Red-eyed tree frog
Agalychnis callidryas
The red-eyed tree frog is a small nocturnal frog of Central American rainforests. Its size, colors, startle display, diet, eggs on leaves, lifespan and status.
Seven-spot ladybug
Coccinella septempunctata
The seven-spot ladybug is a red beetle 5–8 mm long with seven black spots that hunts aphids. Its life cycle, defenses, winter clusters and spread to America.
Short-beaked echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
The short-beaked echidna is a spiny, egg-laying mammal of Australia and New Guinea that eats ants and termites. Size, spines, puggles, hibernation and lifespan.
Strawberry poison dart frog
Oophaga pumilio
The strawberry poison dart frog is a tiny red-and-blue frog of Central American rainforests. Facts on its color morphs, toxins, calls and tadpole care.
Sunda pangolin
Manis javanica
The Sunda pangolin is a scaly, ant-eating mammal of Southeast Asia that rolls into a ball when threatened. Facts on its scales, diet, young and illegal trade.
Thorny devil
Moloch horridus
The thorny devil is a small, spike-covered lizard of Australia's deserts that eats only ants and drinks through grooves in its skin. Size, range and defenses.
Veiled chameleon
Chamaeleo calyptratus
The veiled chameleon is a large, casque-headed chameleon from Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Facts on its casque, colors, tongue, eyes, eggs, lifespan and range.
Wood frog
Lithobates sylvaticus
The wood frog is a masked brown frog of North American forests that survives winter frozen. Its size, range to Alaska, vernal pool breeding, calls and life.