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Antlion — printable fact sheet
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Animal Fact Sheet
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Antlion
Myrmeleon formicarius
The famous conical sand pit is only half the story: most antlion species never build one at all, and simply lurk in litter or sand as ambushers. In the pit-building genera, the larva digs by spiralling backwards, flicking sand out with its head, and forms a cone at precisely the…
Did you know?
- Despite their fearsome larval hunting strategies, adult antlions do not eat other insects and instead feed on nectar and pollen.
- The larva's habit of shuffling backwards, leaving winding trails in dry dust, gives it the American nickname "doodlebug". Antlion larvae can survive many months without a meal, which matters because a pit is a passive trap and may catch nothing for weeks. Adults of many species are nocturnal and rarely seen, so most people who know antlion pits have never knowingly seen the animal that made them.
What I learned
Draw the antlion
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