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Compost Consumers - Level III (tertiary consumers) |
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Primary Source: California Intergrated Waste
Management Board This level is made up of carnivores, or physical decomposers, and include
centipedes, predatory mites, rove beetles, ants, spiders, pseudoscorpions,
and earwigs. Most of these creatures function best at medium or mesophilic
temperatures, so they will not be in the pile at all times. |
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Centipedes
are flattened, segmented worms with 15 or more pairs of legs--one pair
per segment. They hatch from eggs laid during the warm months and gradually
grow to their adult size. Centipedes are third-level consumers, feeding
only on living animals, especially insects and spiders. |
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Mites are related to ticks, spiders, and horseshoe crabs because
they have in common six leg-like, jointed appendages. Some mites are small
enough to be invisible to the naked eye, while some tropical species are
up to a half-inch in length. Mites reproduce very rapidly, moving through
larval, nymph, adult, and dormant stages. They attack plant matter, but
some are also second-level consumers, ingesting nematodes, fly larvae,
other mites, and springtails. |
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Rove Beetles
are the most common beetles in compost. While feather-winged beetles feed
on fungal spores, the larger rove beetles prey on other insects. Beetles
are easily visible insects with two pairs of wings, the more forward-placed
of these serving as a cover or shield for the folded and thinner back-set
ones that are used for flying. These beetles prey on snails, insects, and
other small animals. The black rove beetle is an acknowledged predator
of snails and slugs. Some people import them to their gardens when slugs
become a garden problem. |
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Ants
feed on a variety of material, including aphid honeydew, fungi, seeds,
sweets, scraps, other insects, and sometimes other ants. Compost provides
some of these foods, and it also provides shelter for nests and hills.
They will remain only while the pile is relatively cool. Ants prey on first-level
consumers, and may benefit the composting process by bringing fungi and
other organisms into their nests. The work of ants can make compost richer
in phosphorus and potassium by moving minerals from one place to another. |
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Spiders
feed on insects and other small invertebrates. |
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Pseudoscorpions
are predators which seize victims with their visible front claws, then
inject poison from glands located at the tips of the claws. But don't panic!
Pseudoscorpians are so small, their prey include tiny nematode worms, mites,
larvae, and small earthworms. |
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Earwigs
are large predators, easily seen with the naked eye. They move about quickly.
Some are predators, others feed chiefly on decayed vegetation. |
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