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A full grown antlion can be up to 4 cm long, almost double the size of the antlion at it's larve stage(1.2cm.) At an antlion's larvae stage it eats mainly arthropods (What are Arthropods?) and ants. Adult antlion's eat pollen an nector, sometimes small arthropods as well. The wings on the adult antlion look a lot similar to the one's on a dragonfly, however antlions belong to an entirely different class of winged-insects. How can you tell them apart? By their antennae's; antlion's are about the length of a small insect's head and midsection combined, and the wing pattern; the antlion's being several times as wide and long as a dragonfly's. Antlion larvae stay in that stage for 1-3 years, once they reach adult stage they're only alive for 30-45 days and then die. Crazy right?
Anyways I attempted to do my own home video of the antlion's lurching in my front yard. Unfortunately the ant got away, which can sometimes happen, but it shows a basic idea of how the antlion larvae work
Field Video 10/8/14
I went searching for an ant to throw into this hole, red ants seem to work better because they're bigger and the antlion larvae can feel the weight of the ant, in contrast to the black ant that are
Ewwww! I hate insects! Haha But this was really interesting to read. I didnt even know there was such thing as an antlion, I thought just ants. How did the ant get away? Did the antlion not get to it quick enough or? Have you tried feeding it other insects as well? The Transformation of the Antlion is pretty crazy as well, left me pretty speechless . Nice blog Lily!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the research, you found out some pretty cool stuff. Their lives spans are pretty crazy and I have a question on that. How long are they in eggs before they hatch and how long are they in cocoons? Also, do they cocoon like butterflies do? The video you took was also cool, I'm actually kind of happy for that ant.
ReplyDeleteI agree; your research shows real inquiry and discovery. I love that you experimented with the ant lion and I love that the ant got away. Go underdog!
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome! I can't believe I've never noticed them, especially since I've lived in Nevada for all of my life. I'm excited that I finally saw a video, it made me realize how fast they move. I don't always go for the little guy, so I was hoping to see how the eating process worked. Maybe another video in a later blog?
ReplyDeleteThat was really interesting. I like how you did your research and then put it to the test. I wonder how many of those there are around the place you're observing. This was entertaining to read and I look forward to reading about what you discover.
ReplyDeleteIt's so fascinating how an antlion can live underground and then transform into something completely different and still survive perfectly fine in a different environment.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe that ant lion isn't even an adult yet! It's very interesting how these Antlion catch their prey. They just kick sand so the ant cant escape. Looks very terrifying but interesting.
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