Besides ants and termites, what is the primary alternative food source aardvarks might occasionally consume?
Answer
Larvae or eggs of other insects
While the aardvark's diet is overwhelmingly dedicated to ants and termites, dietary flexibility exists only within a very narrow scope, typically involving other invertebrates that are accidentally unearthed during the tireless digging process. The primary, though rare, exceptions involve consuming the larvae or eggs belonging to other insect species encountered while excavating an ant or termite nest. This deviation does not represent true omnivory, as the aardvark avoids categories like fruit or vegetation entirely, as its entire anatomy is specifically engineered for processing high volumes of small, proteinaceous material accessed underground.
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