2016/03/10 by Jenny A. Sprent, Jenny Sprent, Stewart C. Nicol
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Plant and animal studies
paper · doi:10.1071/am15023
openalex publication_date 2016/03/10 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is generally considered to be myrmecophagous, consuming a diet consisting of ants and termites. The range and seasonal variation of food items consumed by echidnas in the Southern Midlands of Tasmania, an area where termites are absent, was examined using faecal scat analysis. Scat analysis indicated that echidnas in this region are not purely myrmecophagous. Whilst ants were present in 96% of scats and made up 55 ± 39% of scat contents by percentage volume, non-ant food items (scarab larvae and Oxycanus moth larvae) were found in 72% of scats. Scarab larvae were present in 68% of scats, and in those scats made up 46 ± 39% of the volume of prey material. The only significant seasonal variation of any dietary item was for scarab larvae, which can be attributed to variations in the abundance of these larvae throughout their lifecycle. The patterns of consumption indicate that echidnas are opportunistic foragers.