Hello. Would you know, apart from cockroaches) which orders, families, genera and even species of insects are detritivores at the adult stage (it seems to me, for example, that this is the case for Tenebrionidae)?

Scathophaga, Scarabaeoidea, Silphidae, and Isoptera (or just all of Blattodea?) to name a few. Some butterflies, too. I’m not sure which species of butterflies are, but I know that it has been documented in them as well.

Oups, I forgot to specify that my question was about insects feeding on plant waste

Dermestidae will eat just about anything that was previously alive. Zygentoma, Ptinidae, Scarabaeidae, Tenebrionidae, and Silvanidae also have many. If fungi or dead tree bark still on the tree works, there are plenty of other beetle families.

OK. All these taxa have a detritivorous diet in the adult state (it seemed to me that the adult Scarabaeidae fed on the flowers) ?

What does plant waste mean exactly? Eg. does something like rotting fruit count? If so, then many insects, flies, wasps, butterflies etc. do feed on such food sources.

[image] robotpie: What does plant waste mean exactly as you said, rotten fruit, but also peelings or decaying plants.

It might be easier to ask which groups won’t feed on plant waste as adults. I have seen a captive mantis fed a bit of mashed banana. Certainly hymenoptera, coleoptera, diptera, lepidoptera, orthoptera etc. do. So I would say almost all insect orders at least occasionally scavenge. Most (all?) adult …

I’m pretty sure bugs would eat a rotten fruit.

Good point. I’ve certainly seen stink bugs on fallen apples.

Also barklice are just made to eat waste, probably originally wingless orders can be brought to this category too.

Insects scavenging on plant waste as adults

Nature Talk

photo-nature November 11, 2021, 11:38pm 13

So … I forgot to specify that my research is focused on insects whose plant waste is one of their main food.

Topic		Replies	Views
Question about food for scavengers Nature Talk	3	298	February 6, 2023
Butterflies feasting on carrion Nature Talk	12	3034	July 11, 2020
Crawling arthropods and dead roots Nature Talk	2	345	September 8, 2023
Question about detritivorous invertebrates Nature Talk	6	599	January 8, 2023
Need informations about two Tenebrioninae Nature Talk	5	463	November 24, 2021

Insects scavenging on plant waste as adults

Related topics