What is a secondary consumer?

What is a secondary consumer?

• A. Eats producers.
• B. Eats detritus.
• C. Eats primary consumers.
• D. Produces its own food.

Answer: (C)

A secondary consumer is an organism that gains energy by eating primary consumers (herbivores). In a food chain, producers (plants) make food, primary consumers eat those plants, and secondary consumers prey on the primary consumers. For example, a fox that eats rabbits (which feed on plants) fits this role. Eating producers would make something a primary consumer, eating detritus would make it a detritivore, and producing its own food makes it a producer (autotroph).

A secondary consumer is an organism that gains energy by eating primary consumers (herbivores). In a food chain, producers (plants) make food, primary consumers eat those plants, and secondary consumers prey on the primary consumers. For example, a fox that eats rabbits (which feed on plants) fits this role. Eating producers would make something a primary consumer, eating detritus would make it a detritivore, and producing its own food makes it a producer (autotroph).