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FAQs. Our work. How can you help? What are anteaters? Anteaters are toothless and—as their name suggests—insectivorous, meaning they eat insects. Their diet consists primarily of ants and termites, which they capture by breaking apart insect nests with their clawed toes and then sticking their long tongues inside.
After finding a nest, the animal tears it open with its claws and inserts its long, sticky tongue to collect its prey (which includes eggs, larvae and adult insects). An anteater attacks up to 200 nests in one day, for as long as a minute each, and consumes a total of around 35,000 insects.
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Feeding on Ants. The giant anteater uses its sharp claws to tear an opening into an anthill and put its long snout, sticky saliva, and efficient tongue to work. But it has to eat quickly, flicking ...
Anteaters are specialized to feed on small insects, with each anteater species having its own insect preferences: small species are specialized on arboreal insects living on small branches, while large species can penetrate the hard covering of the nests of terrestrial insects.
Food/Eating Habits. Research has found that giant anteaters can identify the particular species of ant or termite by smell before they rip apart the prey's nest. When feeding, sticky saliva coats the tongue. The 2-foot-long tongue is attached to the sternum and can flick in and out up to 150 times per minute.
The body temperature of this anteater is one of the lowest among mammals - 91 degrees Fahrenheit (32.7 degrees Celsius). This is due to their low-calorie insect diet. The Giant anteater may travel an average of 3,700 m (12,100 ft) per day. The Giant anteater is capable of eating a huge amount of ants: up to 30,000-35,000 ants per day.
They detect anthills and termite mounds with their acute sense of smell. When they have located their prey, the anteater digs open the nest with its huge, sharp claws. The anteater then inserts its very long tongue into the nest and extracts the insects which are then placed in the digestive system.
