•7:18 PM
We took our first group hike of the month at Comanche Lookout on Monday morning. The weather has been so nice for walking. Among our finds, was an antlion "colony". Taylor spotted a large area of soft dirt covered with many cone-like holes. We took the opportunity to investigate.
We gently knocked some dirt into the pit of one of these cones and watched. Taylor was thrilled to see something kick the dirt back out. How neat to find a little guy in there.
This was not our first antlion encounter. We checked them out at Friedrich Nature park last month. I dropped a poor unsuspecting ant into an antlion trap to show the kids what would happen. The little guy was already on his way through the mine of antline traps... we just sped up his demise. Now I'm starting to feel bad. Well, it was interesting anyway.As a child, I remember my curiousity over what these antlions looked like. So, we used a leaf and pulled scooped one up. Here's a picture of our little antlion. Did you know that they walk backwards?
Antlions are also commonly called doodlebugs since they doodle around in the sand looking for a good place to settle. They are also called sand dragons.We learned that antlions are actually the larval form of the adult that may be called antlion lacewings. The adults resemble dragonflies and damselflies. They aren't commonly observed because they are active at night. If they land on someone, they may give a bite. For more detailed information, check this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antlion
Here's a cool video we found about the antlion death trap. Check this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkfAyfBDHE
1 comments:
Jenn,
I watched the youtube video. Boy those antlions like to torture their prey before they capture them don't they.=) Hubby and I enjoyed watching this. I'd never heard of them before but he had. It was good to see you again today.
--Jamie