Xylophagy is a term used in

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

to describe the habits of an

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

animal whose diet consists primarily (often solely) of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

. The word derives from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

ξυλοφάγος (''xulophagos'') "eating wood", from (') "wood" and (') "to eat". Animals feeding only on dead wood are called sapro-xylophagous or saproxylic. __TOC__

Xylophagous insects

Most such animals are

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s, primarily

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s of various kinds, in which the behavior is quite common, and found in many different

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

. It is not uncommon for insects to specialize to various degrees; in some cases, they limit themselves to certain plant groups (a taxonomic specialization), and in others, it is the physical characteristics of the wood itself (e.g., state of decay, hardness, whether the wood is alive or dead, or the choice of

heartwood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

versus sapwood versus

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

). Many xylophagous insects have

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

protozoa Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...

and/or

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

in their

digestive system The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs of digestion (the tongue, salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder). Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller and smaller compone ...

which assist in the breakdown of

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

; others (e.g., the

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

family

Termitidae Termitidae is the largest family of termites consisting of 2,125 described species of which are commonly known as the higher termites. They are evolutionarily the most specialised termite group, with their highly compartmentalized hindgut lackin ...

) possess their own

cellulase Cellulase (; systematic name 4-β-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase) is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharides: : Endo ...

. Others, especially among the groups feeding on decaying wood, derive much of their nutrition from the digestion of various

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

that are growing amidst the wood fibers. Such insects often carry the

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s of the fungi in special structures on their bodies (called " mycangia"), and infect the host tree themselves when they are laying their eggs.

Examples of wood-eating animals

African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living species of African elephant, along with the African bush elephant. It is native to humid tropical forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the ...

s *

Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

s *

Cossidae The Cossidae, the cossid millers or carpenter millers, make up a family of mostly large miller moths. This family contains over 110 genera with almost 700 known species, and many more species await description. Carpenter millers are Lepidopter ...

moths * Cockroaches in the genus '' Cryptocercus'' and in the subfamily Panesthiinae * '' Dioryctria sylvestrella'', the maritime pine borer, a

snout moth The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family (biology), family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian Taxonomic rank, superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Cramb ...

in the

Pyralidae The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyr ...

family *

Gribble A gribble () or gribble worm is any of about 56 species of marine isopod from the family Limnoriidae. They are mostly pale white and small ( long) crustaceans, although '' Limnoria stephenseni'' from subantarctic waters can reach . Classificati ...

s *

Horntail Horntails or wood wasps are any of the 150 non-social species of the hymenopteran family Siricidae, a type of xylophagous, wood-eating sawfly. The common name "horntail" derives from the stout, spine-like structure at the end of the adult's abdom ...

s * '' Panaque'' (catfish) *

Sesiidae The Sesiidae or clearwing moths are a diurnality, diurnal moth family (biology), family in the order Lepidoptera known for their Batesian mimicry in both appearance and behaviour of various Hymenoptera. The family consists of 165 genus, genera ...

moths *

Shipworm The shipworms, also called teredo worms or simply teredo (, via Latin ), are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae, a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into (and commonly eventual ...

s *

Termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

s * Wood-boring beetles, including various

bark beetles A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct Family (biology), family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculioni ...

, jewel beetles and

longhorn beetles The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by Antenn ...

Woodlice Woodlice are terrestrial isopods in the suborder Oniscidea. Their name is derived from being often found in old wood, and from louse, a parasitic insect, although woodlice are neither parasitic nor insects. Woodlice evolved from marine isopods ...

Amphipods Amphipoda () is an order (biology), order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphip ...

Squat lobster Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongs ...

Wood-eating squat lobsters of the deep - Arthropoda
/ref>

References

{{feeding Herbivory Dead wood Wood decomposition