From the Latin consume, to consume.

Consumers are heterotrophic organisms of the second and subsequent trophic levels that feed on finished organic matter. There are phytophages, the first-order consuls who consume organic matter created by plants, zoophages, the second-order consuls who use phytophages as food, the third- and fourth-order consuls, and so on. The final link in the food chain is the higher-order consuls, up to humans. Any consulter is a heterotroph, as it is not able to synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones.