Hello Nate.



I always like it when this question is repeated over and over again. WHY do horned lizards require ants in their diets? I could simply answer "Because they do."



There are many animals that have very specific diets that cannot be supplemented or modified. The koalas of Australia require eucalyptus as the main staple for their diet, and not just any eucalyptus, but very specific species of eucalyptus. The Great Pandas of China have a very specific diet of bamboo for the main diet, and that too is very specific. The Thorny Devil of Australia has a very specific ant diet (100%) also.



Why do these specifics exist? The animals developed these diets because of evolutionary processes that insured their survival.



Ants are probably one of the most numerous insects on the planet. What better item could there be for a diet? Of course there are certain adaptations that will be required if your diet is to be a high percentage of ants. One adaptation is the need to detoxify ant venom, which can be deadly. Horned lizards have this adaptation in the form of a blood factor that detoxifies this venom and turns it into beneficial compounds like water and carbohydrates. The enzymes also provide a digestive system chemistry that maintains a specific acidic pH to control certain internal microflora. Another adaptation is the structure of the teeth. Horned lizard's teeth are designed to be the least intrusive when capturing ants. Horned lizards do not have a strong bite pressures for such things like chewing and grasping prey items.



I have disected many preserved horned lizards to analyze stomach content to study diet. I monitor several horned lizard study sites, and have done so for nearly 18 years and collected scat throughout the seasons to monitor exactly what horned lizards are eating, on a daily and monthly basis. Ants are a major dietary requirement.



I have raised captive bred horned lizards, from hatching to old age (9 years), and experimented with dietary variation. The best results are with 80 - 90% ants (19 different species of ants found through scat and stomach content analysis). Growth rates were comparable to wild hatchlings. Comparitive analysis with captive vs wild hatchlings through old age on dietary balance is 0.00113mm per day growth rate from hatching to 4 months. Variations of withholding ants from the diet had very negative results and high mortality.



Ants are a major part of the diet of many species of horned lizards. That is just a fact. Mother Nature's design has a reason. Any alteration will take time. if it is to be. If you want to keep horned lizards, ants are a necessity. If you cannot meet that requirement, as well as other specifics, leave the horned lizards in the wild and protect the habitats in situ.



Lester G. Milroy III

Conservation Biologist

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