micropredation

Micropredation is a feeding strategy in which a consumer obtains small amounts of energy or nutrients from multiple host or prey individuals, typically without killing them outright. Micropredators feed on many hosts over their lifetime, as opposed to macropredators that subdue and consume large prey in a single event. Feeding events are usually brief and may involve blood, tissue fluids, or other secretions, while the host remains alive and capable of future reproduction. The concept is used to describe interactions that lie along a continuum between predation and parasitism, rather than as a strict dichotomy.

Common examples include blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes and biting flies; ectoparasitic arachnids like ticks and mites; and leeches that take small, repeated blood meals. Many micropredators possess specialized adaptations—piercing mouthparts, saliva containing anticoagulants or anesthetics, and mechanisms to evade host defenses—that facilitate multiple feeding encounters with different hosts. Because micropredators can transmit pathogens, they play a central role in disease ecology and epidemiology.

Ecologically, micropredators can influence host population dynamics, behavior, and habitat use, contributing to broader food web interactions. Evolutionary interactions between micropredators and hosts can drive the development of host defenses and corresponding counter-defenses. The term highlights the diverse feeding strategies across taxa and remains a useful framework for understanding interactions that do not involve rapid, lethal prey subjugation.