Leslie Massey
Termites are social insects that build nests in soil or wood and occasionally damage wooden structures. They are sometimes called 'white ants', but this is a misnomer as they are more closely related to cockroaches. In Australia, there are over 350 termite species. They are a key food source for many predators, including birds, reptiles, and mammals. One such mammal is the numbat, an endangered insectivorous marsupial native to Australia. Numbats have a long sticky tongue that allows them to eat termites, which they consume almost exclusively. They are also known as banded anteaters due to their colour pattern and termite diet.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Numbat |
| Scientific Name | Myrmecobius fasciatus |
| Other Names | Noombat, Walpurti, Banded Ant-eater |
| Diet | Consists almost exclusively of termites |
| Weight | 280-700 g |
| Size | 20-29 cm long plus a tail that is 12-21 cm long |
| Habitat | Eucalyptus forest and woodland with an abundance of wandoo or jarrah trees |
| Behaviour | Solitary, territorial, diurnal |
| Enemies | Birds of prey, snakes, goannas, carpet python, sand goanna, wedge-tailed eagle, collared sparrowhawk, brown goshawk, little eagle, red foxes, feral cats |
| Population | Approximately 2000 individuals |
| Status | Endangered |
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What You'll Learn
Numbats eat termites almost exclusively
Numbats are small endangered marsupials native to Australia. They have a long sticky tongue that allows them to pick up termites, which they eat almost exclusively. In fact, a single numbat can eat up to 20,000 termites per day. Numbats are also known as "banded anteaters" due to their colour pattern and termite diet, although they do not intentionally eat ants.
Numbats have a specialised diet that consists almost entirely of termites. They have a long and narrow tongue coated with sticky saliva produced by large submandibular glands. This helps them to consume termites, which have a softer exoskeleton. Numbats also have a “degenerate” jaw with up to 50 very small, nonfunctional teeth, and they rarely chew their food due to the soft nature of their diet.
Numbats are diurnal, meaning they are only active during the day. Their activity levels are closely linked to those of termites, as they synchronise their day with termite activity, which is temperature-dependent. In winter, they feed from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, while in summer, they rise early, take shelter during the heat of the day, and feed again in the late afternoon.
Numbats have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find termite mounds and underground galleries. They also have good vision, with eyes on opposite sides of their heads, allowing them to see potential dangers approaching. When threatened, numbats may freeze or run under the cover of nearby bushes, trees, or logs to hide.
Numbats play an important role in their local ecosystem by controlling termite populations. They are protected by conservation programs and can be found in several small colonies in Western Australia, as well as in fenced reserves in South Australia and New South Wales.
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Numbats have a long sticky tongue to eat termites
Numbats are small, insectivorous marsupials native to Australia. They are also known as banded anteaters due to their distinctive banding pattern on their back. Numbats have a long sticky tongue that they use to eat termites. This is because they do not have the physical equipment to break into termite mounds. Instead, they rely on termites being within easy reach, usually just below the soil surface or high up in termite mound chambers.
Numbats have a slender body with a long, pointed snout and large, pointed ears. Their fur is reddish-brown in colour and is marked with white stripes that run across their backs. These stripes help them to camouflage against the woodland floor. They have a long sticky tongue that can be as long as their entire body! This tongue is coated with sticky saliva produced by large submandibular glands. The presence of numerous ridges along the soft palate helps to scrape termites off the tongue so they can be swallowed.
Numbats are highly skilled climbers and can climb trees to search for termites. They are also fast runners and can zigzag away from predators. They have sharp claws that they use to dig into termite mounds. Numbats are diurnal, meaning they are only active during the day and their activity levels are closely linked to those of termites. They spend much of their time foraging for termites, using their keen senses of smell and hearing to locate their prey.
Numbats are solitary animals and do not live with other members of their species. Adult numbats are territorial and will establish a territory of up to 1.5 square km early in life, defending it from others of the same sex. Numbats are under threat from habitat loss and introduced predators like foxes and feral cats. They are considered an endangered species, with an estimated population of only a few thousand individuals remaining in the wild.
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Numbats are endangered by habitat loss and predators
Numbats are small, slender marsupials with small pointed heads, small upright ears, four short legs with long claws, and a long bushy tail. They are highly specialised termite-eating mammals. They are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, and their diet consists almost exclusively of termites. They have a long, sticky tongue that they use to lick up termites, and they can sense the presence of termites through smell and small vibrations in the ground. Numbats are unique among Australian mammals and are the only marsupial fully active by day.
Numbats are native to Australia and were once widespread across southern Australia. However, due to habitat loss and the introduction of predators, their range has significantly decreased. They now only occur in isolated pockets of south-west Western Australia. Habitat loss due to land clearing, farming, development, and mining has destroyed the numbat's natural habitat and reduced their food sources. Additionally, the introduction of invasive predators such as red foxes and feral cats has posed a significant threat to their survival. These predators are very clever and efficient hunters, and the numbats, being small and diurnal, are particularly vulnerable.
Native predators of the numbat include various reptiles and raptors, such as the carpet python, sand goanna, wedge-tailed eagle, collared sparrowhawk, brown goshawk, and the little eagle. Numbats are also at risk from birds of prey when they forage in open areas. To protect themselves from predators, numbats shelter in large hollow logs, tree hollows, or burrows at night. They also have good speed and can run rapidly, bounding away at over 30 km/hr when they sense danger.
Conservation efforts are in place to protect numbat populations, including creating feral predator-free fenced areas and reintroduction programs. These initiatives aim to prevent numbats from becoming extinct and help increase their population. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is actively involved in conserving numbat populations in several wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Additionally, organisations like Project Numbat have been working to save numbats from extinction since 2006. These efforts have resulted in an increase in numbat sightings and the successful reintroduction of numbats to some areas.
Overall, numbats are endangered by habitat loss, fragmentation, and the introduction of invasive predators. Their survival is crucial as they are a unique and specialised species native to Australia. Conservation efforts are ongoing, and with continued support and protection, there is hope for the recovery and preservation of the numbat population.
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Numbats are solitary and territorial
Numbats are highly territorial. An individual male or female establishes a territory of up to 1.5 square km (370 acres) early in life and defends it from others of the same sex. The animal generally remains within that territory from then on. Male and female territories overlap, and during the breeding season, males will venture outside their normal home ranges to find mates.
Numbats are solitary animals, which means they do not live with other members of their species. They only socialise when raising their offspring and during the mating season when a breeding pair lives in a nest. Numbats are under threat from habitat loss and introduced predators like foxes and feral cats. They have a well-developed sense of smell, which they use when foraging for termites.
Numbats have relatively powerful claws, but they are not strong enough to break into termite mounds. Instead, they rely on the termites being within easy reach, usually just below the soil surface or high up in the termite mound chambers. Numbats have a high visual acuity, which is unusual for marsupials, and they have a high proportion of cone cells in the retina. They also have eyes on opposite sides of their heads, which allows them to have good vision of things coming towards them.
Numbats play an important role in their local ecosystem by controlling termite populations. They are known as "banded anteaters" due to their colour pattern and termite diet. They are unique among Australian mammals, with an extremely specialised diet. Numbats are able to enter a state of torpor, which may last up to fifteen hours a day during the winter months.
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Numbats have a strong sense of smell to find termites
Numbats have a highly specialised diet that consists almost exclusively of termites. They have a strong sense of smell, which they use to locate the shallow and unfortified underground galleries that termites construct between their nests and feeding sites. These galleries are usually only a short distance below the surface of the soil, and are within reach of the numbat's digging claws.
Numbats also have a long pointed nose that is useful for getting into small holes in the ground and logs to search for termites. They have relatively powerful claws, but they are not strong enough to break into termite mounds, so they must rely on the termites being within easy reach. Numbats synchronise their day with termite activity, which is temperature-dependent. In winter, they feed from mid-morning to mid-afternoon; in summer, they rise earlier, take shelter during the heat of the day, and feed again in the late afternoon.
Numbats have a long sticky tongue that allows them to pick up termites. They use their front paws to dig the termites out before licking them up. Numbats eat many different species of termites, but they do not eat ants (except for incidentally when foraging for termites). They consume up to 20,000 termites per day, which is about 10% of their own weight in food.
Numbats are small endangered marsupials native to parts of Australia. They have striped fur, which helps them camouflage against the woodland floor. They are solitary and territorial, with each individual establishing a territory of up to 1.5 square kilometres early in life and defending it from others of the same sex. Numbats are diurnal, meaning they are only active during the day, and their activity levels are closely linked to those of termites.
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Frequently asked questions
The Numbat, also known as the banded anteater, is an Australian animal that eats termites.
Numbats have striped fur, a long sticky tongue, a pointed snout, and a black stripe stretching from the side of their muzzle, through the eye to the base of the ear. They are small, growing to about 25 cm long (not including the fluffy tail which adds a further 17 cm).
Numbats are native to parts of Australia, particularly southwestern Australia, where they live in eucalyptus forests and woodlands with an abundance of wandoo or jarrah trees.
A numbat eats up to 15,000-20,000 termites per day.
