Question

What are primary consumers? Can a food chain have quaternary consumers without having secondary or tertiary consumers? Can a tertiary consumer of one chain be a primary or secondary consumer of another chain?

Answer 1

Primary consumers are herbivores which feed on plants or primary producers. They make up the second trophic level and are consumed by secondary and tertiary consumers.

A food chain can not have consumers of superior orders without having the consumers of inferior orders.

A consumer can participate in several different chains while not always belonging to the same consumer order in each of them. Therefore, a tertiary consumer of one chain be a primary or secondary consumer of another chain.