Mammal to help out after bearing insect (8)
I believe the answer is:
elephant
'mammal' is the definition.
(I know that elephant is a type of mammal)
'help out after bearing insect' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'help' is 'leph' which is located in the answer.
'bearing' could be 'n' and 'n' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'eat' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for elephant that I've seen before include "Endangered Species" , "bigger one from two continents?" , "Tusked mammal" , "Large animal found in the plane?" , "Animal with a trunk" .)