Ant: The Definitive Guide

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Ant: The Definitive Guide is a horned lizard. There are 13 species of the horned lizard in North America. Horned lizards prefer a dry, warm climate, such as the desert or a dry woodland, and they can be found in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico. Adults grow to 3-5 inches. They depend on their environment to control their body temperature, and use burrows and shade to prevent overheating. The horned lizard has a wide, flat body ideal for desert camouflage, and a short neck and short legs. It has spines on its body and prominent horns on its head. It is also known as the horny “toad.”

Despite the horned lizards’ fierce appearance, they are not aggressive. Their primary diet consists of ants, although they sometimes eat beetles, grasshoppers, and other insects, which they catch with their long tongues. The horned lizards’ first line of defense from predators is their camouflage, but they are also known to hiss and inflate their bodies to appear more intimidating. As a last resort, they have the ability to squirt blood from the corners of their eyes in an attempt to confuse attackers. In Texas and Oklahoma, horned lizards are considered a threatened species. It is illegal to possess a horned lizard without ...