Fungivory

Definition

The consumption of fungi as a primary or partial food source. In arthropods, fungivory spans from obligate specialization—where an organism completes its entire life cycle on fungal tissue—to facultative feeding that supplements other diets. The habit is phylogenetically widespread among insects, particularly in larval beetles (Coleoptera), moth larvae that mine fungal fruiting bodies, and many detritivorous springtails (Collembola) that graze on hyphae in soil and leaf litter. Some mites (Acari) and psocids (Psocodea) also exhibit dedicated fungivory. Fungivores may target particular fungal structures: spores, hyphae, fruiting bodies, or decaying mycelial mats. The term distinguishes fungal consumption from herbivory or detritivory even when substrates overlap, as in wood-decay systems where insects feed on fungal-colonized lignin rather than the wood itself.

Etymology

From Latin fungus (mushroom) + -vory (eating), patterned on carnivory, herbivory.

Example

Larvae of certain Erotylidae (pleasing fungus beetles) are obligate fungivores that develop within bracket fungi, while many oribatid mites in forest soils practice non-selective fungivory on diverse hyphal networks.

Synonyms

• mycophagy

Related Terms

• detritivory
• herbivory
• mycophagy
• saprophagy
• Symbiosis
• xylophagy

Usage Notes

Specialists use 'fungivory' for the feeding habit and 'mycophagy' largely interchangeably, though 'mycophagy' sometimes carries connotations of spore consumption specifically. Distinguish 'fungivore' (the organism) from 'fungivory' (the behavior or trophic category). In entomological literature, the term is often qualified as 'obligate fungivory' versus 'facultative' or 'incidental' when insects consume fungi secondary to other substrates. Some authors restrict 'fungivory' to animals and exclude fungal consumption by other fungi (mycoparasitism) or bacteria.