UCM 1369 - Model of a Texas Horned Lizard

The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) hiding under a plant in the ant diorama is a plaster cast from a specimen stored in alcohol. Texas horned lizards range from Colorado and Kansas to northern Mexico, and from southeastern Arizona to Louisiana and Arkansas. Sometimes inaccurately called a "horny toad" (Phrynosoma means "toad-bodied" and cornutum means "horned"), horned lizards can puff up their spiny bodies to protect themselves from predators. Texas horned lizards can also squirt a stream of blood mixed with a bad-tasting chemical from their eyes and sometimes mouths to confuse predators.

Texas horned lizards are a major predator of harvester ants, which make up to 70% of their diet. Because ants are low-calorie, horned lizards must eat large numbers, which is why they have a large stomach. Horned lizards typically sit by ant trails and catch ants as they pass by. Use of pesticides and the introduction of aggressive Brazilian fire ants have wiped out many harvester ant colonies, leading to a decline in Texas horned lizard populations in some areas.

Learn more about Texas horned lizards at the Horned Lizard Conservation Society or view 3-D visualizations of a Australian relative, the thorny devil (Moloch horridus), at DigiMorph.

Return to Harvester Ants Index