Home » Animals » Aye-aye » Feeding

Feeding

The aye-aye's diet is very specialized, consisting mainly of the interior of Ramy nuts, nectar from the Traveller's Palm tree, some fungi and insect grubs. The animals are also known to raid coconut plantations, and have been seen eating lychees and mangoes, which are also plantation crops. Most of what we know about the diet and social behavior of wild aye-aye populations is based on a two year study in the early nineties by Yale University Undergraduate, Eleanor Sterling.

Since a significant percentage of an aye-aye's diet consists of insect larvae that dwell inside dead or living trees, the animals have evolved a specialized method for locating the larvae. As they walk along a branch, the animals continuously and rapidly tap it with their middle finger. Cupping their huge ears forward, the aye-aye listens intently to the echoing sounds coming from the tapped tree. When the sound indicates they are above an insect tunnel, the animals begin to tear off enormous chunks of the outer bark with their impressive teeth, until the insect tunnel is revealed. Then the aye-aye inserts its slender and highly flexible third finger into the hole, and when the prey is located, it is hooked with the tip of the finger and removed.

Adopt a Lemur · About the Lemur Center · Duke Home · Site Map