Just in from the latest AntLion News:

“Close Encounter with An Ant-Lion, and Lived To Tell The Tale”

WHAT??  YIKES!!  What Can This Be About??

By Susan Andersen

Mostly, but, not ALL kidding aside, there is a critter that you may encounter right here in our Rillito Bend Neighborhood that fall under this description!

If you look closely in the soft, sandy soil, often at the base of the mesquite trees along Cactus Boulevard in the “Rain Garden”, you will often see small cone-shaped holes.  They can be solitary or grouped together, as may as 10 or more.  As the name implies- they eat ants.

Antlion Traps

Photo by Author, 2022

The ANTLION is an insect in the family Myrmeleontidae, a group of about 2,000 species found throughout the warmer regions of the world.  The larva make the sand pits to catch their ant prey.  The larvae are the longest living stage lasting about 2 years.  In comparison, the adults live about 4 weeks, or long enough to mate and lay eggs.

Antlion Larvae

Image from Encyclopedia Britannica

The Antlion trap is an engineering marvel.  It takes some time to build to the appropriate specifications for the sand type.  You can find a description of the process in READ MORE section below.

Ant-lion Trap

Image from OldBlockWriter

It is said that if you quickly dig down at the bottom of the pit with a spoon and put that soil in a small strainer, you can sieve out the Antlion, in order to actually see one.  I have tried this and NEVER been successful.  The critter is EXTREMELY sensitive to ground vibrations in order to sense an ant walking along the ground.  It is long gone by the time my heavy foot has gotten anywhere near the pit.

​You may know these creatures by many other names:  DOODLE BUG, ANTLION LACEWING, isn’t this just plain fun?

Arizona Antlion Adult

Image from BugGuide

​Adult antlions are much bigger than the larvae and often called lacewings. 

For more information and a couple of videos on trap building

Read More