Detritivores

A detritivore, also known as a detrivore, detritophage, detritus feeder, or detritus eater, is a consumer that feeds on detritus, which includes dead organic matter (both plant and animal), feces, and decomposing organic debris.¹ Detritivores include animals such as earthworms, millipedes, woodlice, springtails, termites, dung beetles, fly larvae, and amphipods. They are found wherever dead organic matter and waste build up, including forest floors, dung, rotting wood, streams, shorelines, and marine sediments.

Detritivores differ from decomposers, such as bacteria and fungi, in how they process dead organic matter. While detritivores physically ingest detritus, decomposers chemically break it down and absorb its nutrients. In fact, they also differ from scavengers, which primarily feed on larger dead animals or carrion.

Some detritivores specialize in feeding on feces, and these are referred to as coprophages.

Feeding Mechanism

Detritus is not an easy food source to draw nutrition from. It is often decayed, mixed with waste or soil, and low in readily available nutrients. Before detritivores can absorb those nutrients, they must first break the material down.

• The detritivore first ingests the detritus by biting, chewing, shredding, or swallowing it.
• It then breaks it into smaller pieces, making it easier for the body to process.
• The food is broken down further, sometimes with the help of specialized gut microbes that ease digestion.²
• Finally, nutrients are absorbed into the body as simpler food molecules. 

Common Examples

These animals vary in the type of detritus they feed on. The following table lists the most common examples along with the kind of detritus they consume.

Example	What They Eat
Earthworms	Dead leaves, other decaying plant material, and organic matter mixed into the soil
Woodlice	Decaying leaves, damp plant debris, and rotting organic matter
Millipedes	Dead leaves and other rotting plant material
Springtails	Decaying plant material, tiny organic particles in soil or leaf litter, and microbes
Termites	Dead wood and tough plant fibers
Dung Beetles	Feces or dung
Fly larvae	Feces, carrion, or other decaying organic matter
Carrion beetle larvae	Decaying animal remains
Amphipods	Dead leaves, algae-rich debris, and organic particles in freshwater or marine habitats
Caddisfly larvae	Leaf litter and organic debris in streams
Sea Cucumbers	Organic particles in marine sediment

Since detritivores feed on different kinds of detritus, they use different body parts as tools to process it. For example, millipedes and woodlice use chewing mouthparts to break down leaf litter, whereas termites rely on gut microbes to digest tough wood fibers. Similarly, sea cucumbers use their tentacles to collect organic particles from the sediment.

Ecological Role

Detritivores play a crucial role in the ecosystem by feeding on dead organic matter and waste and breaking them into smaller particles for decomposers to work on.³ As decomposers take over from detritivores, they recycle nutrients back into the soil, allowing further growth of plants.⁴

• Detritivores feed on the detritus
• As they feed, they break the detritus into smaller pieces
• Decomposers, like bacteria and fungi, break the detritus further
• The nutrients are released (recycled) into the soil
• Plants and other producers absorb the recycled nutrients