Predators Hunt for a Balanced Diet

Science Daily

Previous research on insects has shown that herbivores such as butterfly larvae and grasshoppers and omnivores like fruit flies and crickets select food that will give them a balanced diet. However, until now scientists have assumed that predators can only focus on obtaining sufficient calories in their diets. This is the first research to show that predators also select food on the basis of its nutritional value. Although this study focuses on one insect species, the researchers believe that this is likely to be true for predators across the animal kingdom.