Checkered Whiptail

Aspidoscelus tesselatus

Whiptails as a group are very active, nervous, and wary lizards.  They are active hunters of insects and spiders and often dig out buried insects which they detect by scent.  Several species of whiptails consist solely of females; the females lay unfertilized but viable eggs.  The Checkered Whiptail on this page was photographed in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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