They feed on small insects, particularly ants. In fact, these lizards often die in captivity unless they are feed ants. Whiptails belong to a large family of New World lizards, distributed throughout the West Indies and South America. Only fourteen species of the genus Cnemidophorus reach into the United States, so we are very much at the edge of their range. They eat insect, spiders and other small animals.
Some whiptails are very unusual in that their population consist entirely of females.
The females lay viable but unfertilized eggs, that develop into genetically identical females.