Question

Which of the following species is a primary consumer in the given food web ?

• A. F
• B. G
• C. H
• D. K

Answer 1

The correct option is B G

A primary consumer is an organism that feeds on primary producers. Organisms of this type make up the second trophic level and are consumed or predated by secondary consumers, tertiary consumers or apex predators. Primary consumers are usually herbivores that feed on autotrophic plants, which produce their own food through photosynthesis. Several other feeding strategies are also used by primary consumers: algivorous feed on photosynthetic algae; frugivores feed on the fruiting bodies of plants; nectarivores feed on plant nectar; folivores feed on leaf material; granivores feed on grains and seeds while fungivores feed on heterotrophic fungi such as mushrooms. Many primary consumers adopt several different feeding strategies in order to maximize the effectiveness of foraging behavior. Primary consumers often have specific physiological adaptations that allow them to process the carbohydrates produced through photosynthesis, which can be hard to break down and extract nutrition from; herbivores often have rows of wide, flat teeth are used to rasp, grind and tear tough plant material and woody stems. Many primary consumers also have symbiotic bacteria, which live within a special organ called the cecum and assist with the digestion of plant material.

So the correct option is 'G'.