What insects do platypuses eat?

Answer 1

Platypuses are carnivores. They are predators; they eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae of caddisflies, mayflies and two-winged flies, fresh water shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish. During summer, they eat more than during winter, in order to build up reserves of fat.

To catch their prey, platypuses must make several hundred dives a day in order to catch enough food. They use the fine, sensitive electroreceptors on their bills, which detect the tiny electrical impulses made by underwater creatures. After locating their prey, they dig up the mud with their bill to grasp them, crushing the creatures between grinding plates in their bills.

Baby platypuses drink mother's milk.

It should be noted that platypuses do not generally eat frogs, tadpoles, fish or plants. Analysis of platypus pellets has - rarely - indicated the presence of fish or frog parts, but on the whole, platypuses do not feed on these creatures.

Answer 2

Platypuses are carnivores. They are predators; they eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae of caddisflies, mayflies and two-winged flies, fresh water shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish. During summer, they eat more than during winter, in order to build up reserves of fat.

To catch their prey, platypuses must make several hundred dives a day in order to catch enough food. They use the fine, sensitive electroreceptors on their bills, which detect the tiny electrical impulses made by underwater creatures. After locating their prey, they dig up the mud with their bill to grasp them, crushing the creatures between grinding plates in their bills.

It should be noted that platypuses do notgenerally eat frogs, tadpoles, fish or plants. Analysis of platypus pellets has - rarely - indicated the presence of fish or frog parts, but on the whole, platypuses do not feed on these creatures.

Answer 3

The platypus must eat about 20% of its own weight in food each day, while a lactating female must eat the equivalent of its own weight daily to meet its own energy needs. So, for an average 1kg platypus, not a lactating female, that means it must consume at least 250g of insect larvae, crustaceans and small fish each day.

Answer 4

Platypuses are carnivores. They are predators; they eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae of caddisflies, mayflies and two-winged flies, fresh water shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish. During summer, they eat more than during winter, in order to build up reserves of fat.

To catch their prey, platypuses must make several hundred dives a day in order to catch enough food. They use the fine, sensitive electroreceptors on their bills, which detect the tiny electrical impulses made by underwater creatures. After locating their prey, they dig up the mud with their bill to grasp them, crushing the creatures between grinding plates in their bills.

Baby platypuses drink mother's milk.

It should be noted that platypuses do not generally eat frogs, tadpoles, fish or plants. Analysis of platypus pellets has - rarely - indicated the presence of fish or frog parts, but on the whole, platypuses do not feed on these creatures.

Answer 5

Platypuses do not eat insects, but they do eat the larvae of any freshwater aquatic insects. Platypuses also feed on crustaceans such as freshwater shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish.

Answer 6

Young platypuses feed on mothers' milk until they are old enough to start foraging for themselves.

Answer 7

Platypuses do not eat plants. They do not eat algae or any other aquatic plant: they are purely carnivorous, feeding only on freshwater shrimp, crayfish and other invertebrates.

Answer 8

Platypuses are nocturnal feeders. They need to eat their own body weight in food each day, so they feed almost constantly during the evening, night and early morning.

Answer 9

platypus