Feeding Relationships: Answers

Caterpillars feed on leaves and are themselves eaten by lizards. Lizards are eaten by eagles.

1. Draw the food chain for this feeding relationship.

   Leaves —> caterpillars —> lizards —> eagles

2. Where does the energy in this food chain originate from?

   Energy in all food chains originates from the Sun. Producers are able to absorb the light energy from the Sun and convert it into food (glucose) which it needs for growth.

3. Which organism in the food chain is the producer?

   The producer is the organism that carries out photosynthesis and will be found at the start of any food chain. In the example above, the producer is the leaves.

4. Which animals in the food chain are herbivores and which are carnivores?

   Herbivores are organisms which feed only on plants and carnivores are organisms which feed only on animals. In this food chain, caterpillars are herbivores and both the lizards and eagles are carnivores.

5. What would happen to the populations of other organisms in the ecosystem if the caterpillar population was wiped out by excessive use of pesticides?

   If the caterpillars were wiped out, the lizard populations would decline because they would have less food to eat. This would also cause the eagle population to decline because less lizards will survive as their food source runs out. The effect of one species on others in the food chain is known as interdependence.