Got three of them, figured my GS would get a kick out of them, and they are cool to watch.

Ant Lions are the larval stage of a fly that I am not going to type out the name of... they need fine dirt or sand and dig pits, and wait for ants or other insects to fall in and they eat them. They have a venom that is 100 times more powerful than a blow fish.

You probably have seen their pits and not even known what they were. Also known as the 'doodlebug'.






Ant Lion making its pit.

 

Ant Lion attacking in slo-mo

 

No one else 'digs' on these little critters? 

Never knew they existed. Where did you find them? 

I never knew what doodlebugs were about, I used to play with them as a child..... 

They are in sandy places, usually where people do not walk. I have never seen them here in Texas, used to see them all the time on the riverbanks in Calif.

The dirt has to be pretty fine for them to build their traps. But if ya look around greenbelt areas, you can usually spot the little cone traps they make.



Me to Dufloch, they are pretty cool. 

See them all the time here if you look in the right places.
off the beaten path, in loose, dry, fine dirt/sand.
usually under something to keep rain off. 

I used to stir stir the cone's with a stick and say "doodlebug, doodlebug, your house is on fire....come out and play with me.... 

LOL

They are ruthless when something falls in, one of mine, a little one, took down one of the BIG black ants, that poison works really well. Even a couple videos of the ant lions taking down spiders. 

fascinating! 

I see them all the time around here. When I was a kid, I used to scoop the pit up and try and find the ant lion hidden in there. They are cool looking. 

Yeah they are, love watching em battle the ants.

Weird I have never seen them here before, been here since 05. I live right next to the woods but have never noticed them before until now. 

Recently I've seen them around the gazebo in Bear Branch. I lived in Lufkin for a while, they were literally everywhere up there. 

Maybe the drought is making them spread out their territory. I mean where I found the other day, I have passed by hundreds of times, never say the traps before.

Cool I finally found them though. Always loved them as a kid, and they are very low maintenance with a high entertainment factor ;-) 

omg....thanks for posting this JW. There's a whole bunch of these cone shaped thingies in an area along side the house...now I know what they are. Gives me something to watch...lol 

:) Welcome

Of course it could be just where the water drips down off your... nevermind

;-)