Antlion
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| Antlion | ||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Antlion.jpg An adult antlion resting, perfectly camoflaged on the plank | ||||||||||||||
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Antlions are a family of insects, classified as Myrmeleontidae, from the Greek "myrmex", meaning "ant", and "leon", meaning "lion". Antlions are small, fully developed larvae being 1.5 cm, and adults being 4 cm. Antlions are omnivorous. The antlion larvae eat ants and other insects, while the adult antlion eats pollen and nectar.
The antlion is most often called a "doodlebug". It gets this name due to the odd winding, spiralling trails it leaves in the sand while looking for a good location to build its trap. These trails look like someone has doodled in the sand and hence the name doodlebug.
The adult antlion has two pairs of long, narrow, multi-veined wings and a long, slender abdomen. Although they greatly resemble dragonflies or damselflies, they belong to an entirely different order of insects. Antlions are easily distinguished from damselflies by their longer, prominent, clubbed antennae and different type of wing pattern. They also are very feeble fliers and are normally found fluttering about in the night, in search of a mate. The adult is rarely seen in the wild because it is active only in the evening. During the day it rests, motionless, well-camouflaged by its transparent wings and brownish body.
The life cycle of the antlion begins with egg-laying or "oviposition". The female antlion repeatedly taps the sand surface with the tip of her abdomen. She then inserts the abdomen into the sand and lays an egg. The antlion larva is a ferocious-appearing creature with a robust, fusiform body bearing three pairs of walking legs and a slender neck. Its small head bears an enormous pair of sicklelike jaws (mandibles) with several sharp, hollow projections. Depending on species and where it lives, the larvae will either hide under leaves or pieces of wood, or dig pits in sandy areas.
Ameisenloewe.jpg
Antlion_trap.jpg
Antlion02.jpg
Antlions are especially abundant in soft sand beneath trees or under overhanging rocks. Apparently the larvae prefer dry places that are protected from the rain. Eventually the larva attains its maximum size and undergoes metamorphosis. The entire length of time from egg-laying to adulthood may take two or three years due to the uncertainty and irregular nature of its food supply. When it first hatches, the tiny larva specializes in very small insects, but as it grows larger, it constructs larger pits and thus catches larger prey. When it is full-grown, the larva constructs a spherical cocoon of sand grains cemented together with silk. These cocoons may be buried several centimeters deep in the sand.
After a pupation period of one month, a tiny-winged imago emerges from the cocoon, leaving a small hatch at the opening, and climbs to the surface. After about 20 minutes the adult's wings are fully opened and it will fly off in search of a mate.
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