Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) Fact Sheet: Diet & Feeding

Echidnas are opportunistic feeders

• Echidnas are classified as a myrmecophage (animals, like anteaters, that feed primarily on ants) (Nicol 2015a)
• Preferred foods (Nicol 2015b; Nicol 2015a)
  • Prefer concentrated prey, particularly social insects
  • Termites
    • Make up the majority of their diet, where available
    • Less exoskeleton compared to ants; live in larger colonies
  • Ants
• Other prey
  • Soil invertebrates, such as scarab beetle larvae (“pasture grubs”) (Smith et al. 1989; Nicol 2015a)
    • When seasonally available, make up a large portion of the diet of Tasmanian echidnas (Sprent and Nicol 2016)
  • Moth larvae (“grass grubs”) (Sprent and Nicol 2016)

Defense mechanisms of prey

• Echidnas avoid termites and ants that bite, sting, or have other chemical defenses (Van Wilgenburg and Elgar 2007; Nicol 2015a, except as noted)
  • Seek out defenseless parts of the colony: queen, larvae, and pupae; also winged ants
  • May be willing to endure bites of meat ants, especially after hibernation and before rearing young (Augee et al. 2006)

Tongue and jaw

• The echidna’s sticky tongue can be extended up to 18 cm (7 in) and more than 100 times per minute (Nicol 2015a)
  • Their genus name, Tachyglossus, means ‘fast tongue’ (Augee et al. 2006)
    • Also see Nomenclature
  • Circular and longitudinal muscles cause the extension and contraction (Augee et al. 2006)
  • Tongue tip is very flexible; can form a U-shape (Augee et al. 2006)
  • Taste buds located at the back of the tongue (Augee et al. 2006)
• Prey size is limited to the size of their mouth opening, about 5 mm (0.2 in) (Augee et al. 2006; Nicol 2015a)
  • Hold larger items down with front feet and tear them into smaller pieces with the tongue (Nicol 2015a)
  • Crush larger prey inside a foraging hole with the snout, then suck out the soft parts
• With no teeth, echidnas rely on their tongue to help grind their food
  • Keratin spines at base of the tongue grind food against the palate (Nicol 2015a)
  • Grinding actions forms a paste (Augee et al. 2006)

Finding prey

• How an echidna finds food is not well understood; smell, vibration, and touch likely all play a role (Augee et al. 2006)
• Unearthing underground prey
  • An echidna uses its front claws to tear apart subterranean nests and mounds (Augee et al. 2006)
  • Probes and test soil and sand with snout, leaving round holes (Nicol 2015a)
    • Reported to move snout in a corkscrew-like motion to extract prey, such as beetle larvae (Smith et al. 1989)
  • Pushes head deep into the ground, using snout to displace the soil (Nicol 2015a)
• Foraging around trees (Nicol 2015a)
  • Probes snout under loose tree bark
  • Extracts prey from rotting logs by pulling logs apart with claws and probing with snout
• Turning over leaf litter (Augee et al. 2006)
  • Exposes insects below

Seasonal changes in feeding

• Feed heavily after the mating season to build up fat reserves (Nicol 2015a)
• In temperate areas, peaks in feeding occur in late spring (Smith et al. 1989)

Drinking

• In the wild, may occasionally drink from pools (Augee et al. 2006)
• Able to live in areas where drinking water is not available (Augee et al. 2006)
  • May drink dew

Digestion and scat

• Food is digested slowly (Augee et al. 2006)
• Stomach is elastic; can hold many, many insects
• Stomach has tough, textured lining; grinds insect and dirt particles together to effectively break down food
• Scat is smooth and cylindrical, with broken ends (Augee et al. 2006)
  • Contains indigestible insect exoskeletons, soil, and sand
  • Echidna scat is hard to locate, even where echidnas are abundant

A short-beaked echidna can extrude its long, sticky tongue more than 100 times per minute!

Part of the short-beaked echidna's scientific name means "fast tongue" in Greek.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.