Half better item chewed up by ant (7)
I believe the answer is:
termite
'ant' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'half better item chewed up' is the wordplay.
'half' suggests halving the letters.
'chewed up' indicates an anagram.
'better' cut in half is 'ter'.
'item' is an anagram of 'mite'.
'ter'+'mite'='TERMITE'
'by' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for termite that I've seen before include "Social insect" , "Whitish antlike insect" , "Ant-like insect which destroys timber" , "Ant-like insect that feeds on wood" , "White ant" .)