An organism that eats primary consumers and may be carnivores or omnivores is a

• A. Secondary Consumer
• B. Herbivore
• C. Primary Producer
• D. Decomposer

Answer: (A)

Think about energy flow and trophic levels in ecosystems. Primary producers like plants capture solar energy. Primary consumers, the herbivores, eat those producers. The organism that feeds on those primary consumers is a secondary consumer, because it sits one step higher in the food web by consuming herbivores. It can be a carnivore (eating only animals) or an omnivore (eating both plants and animals), but what defines it here is that its diet centers on eating primary consumers rather than producers or decomposers.

So, secondary consumers are the next link up after herbivores in the energy chain, which is why this option is the best fit.