Oophagy

The Oophagie (from Greek oion = "egg" and phagos = " eaters" ) refers to a form of nutrition through eggs, where the term is generally used only in feeding by conspecific eggs. Is it when the eggs to fertilized eggs or to later stages of development, the diet is referred to as Adelphophagie or even cannibalism.

In many species the young are nourished by the dams on so-called Nähreier. It is to such eggs, the exclusive food for the offspring are designated as primary or (rarely ). In the young, it may result in the formation of special Freßstadien that are specially equipped for this diet anatomically. An example of this are the poison dart frogs of the genus Oophaga whose living in bromeliads tadpoles are nourished by egg of the mother.

Another type of Oophagie comes, inter alia, case of semi- social bees such as the Near East Xylocopa species before in which to social dominance in the nest the other egg-laying females as long as the eggs are eaten in the fighting, until a clear dominance has been established. This is according to a form of infanticide.