Desert

THORNY
DEVIL

or
Moloch



Often referred to as a moloch (another name for devil) the Thorny Devil is a slow-moving, harmless reptile.  When it walks, it lifts its tail, moving slowly and jerkily.

Description

Easily identified by its prominent spines which are soft and its coloring, which ranges from yellow to reddish-brown to black, depending upon which type of soil it is crossing, to serve as camouflage.  They can grow to a total length of 20 cm, and the larger female can weigh up to 90 gms.

Feeding

It feeds exclusively on ants (favorite being small black ants), eating huge numbers In a single meal it is estimated thorny devils can eat between 600 and 3,000 ants! The amazing fact is that they eat them one at a time with their flicking sticky tongue, at a rate of up to 45 a minute.

Resting

At night time thorny devils partly dig into the soil to keep warmer. During really hot days, they dig themselves a shallow underground burrow, sometimes under small shrubs to provide extra protection from the heat.

Habitat & Location

Thorny devils are found throughout out Australia's interior desert, mostly on sandy soils. Plant life in these areas varies from spinifex to mallee scrubland.

Water consumption

Water which lands on the thorny devil's back, whether it be overnight condensation or rain, runs along thousands of tiny grooves on the animal to the corner of its mouth, where it is consumed.  It moves along these grooves by a capillary action, which is set in motion by gulping.

  Defense and Camouflage


The thorny devil is not an aggressive reptile. It prefers defense and has various ways of doing this:
1) It has the ability to change color to match the soil beneath it.
2) It takes refuge in small shrubs upon the approach of a potential predator.
3) When frightened, it tucks its head between its front legs, which shows a false head or knob on its neck in the place where its normal head would be.
4) If a predator attempts to flip it over, it resists by applying counter pressure to the ground on the other side with its spines and its curved tail.
5) Its jerky movement may imitate a leaf, and it often "freezes" in mid stride.
6) It has the ability to puff itself up to make itself appear larger.

Its main predators are man (originally just Aborigines) and bustards (bird).

Breeding

Mating and laying of eggs occurs between September and January with 3 to 10 eggs being laid underground. Three to 4 months later the eggs hatch. Thorny devils reach maturity after 3 years and are believed to have a lifespan of up to 20 years.

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