#antlions — Public Fediverse posts

@NOUR_GAZA_s2 @epso @jack_mendo @DrALJONES @russellt @alicemarshall @BigJackBrass @gm7

This is the 1st one which I've seen outside of documentaries xD and I know that they eat ants :D

Wait, this is the information I queried.

They don’t bite or sting in any medically significant way. Even if you handle one, it’s not like a defensive insect that actively attacks people.

Their main “threat” is to small prey—they use pits and sand/traps to catch insects.

If you disturb their habitat (like a sandy patch with pits), you might notice some sand spitting or minor scratches from their mandibles/claws, but that’s uncommon and not typically serious.

#antlions

Furhter reading https://www.antlionpit.com/where.html

The Process of Making Friends with an Antlion – From Sand Trap to Wings #yt

https://youtu.be/5aLP1UP08cw

Antlion Pit Traps

#Antlion #Myrmeleontidae #ArtWithOpenSource #Darktable #CCBYSA #Insect #Insects #Antlions #Neuroptera #Animal #Animals #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #Photo #Photography

@KateShaw has made a new episode, on ant lions and a seal parasite (ugh, eyeball warning)

and a secret escape tactic by a special ant

https://strangeanimalspodcast.blubrry.net/2025/07/28/episode-443-ant-lions-and-the-horrible-seal-problem/

#antlions
#seals
#ants
#lacewings

Lunar surface or antlion paradise? We report, you decide.

#Insects #Antlions #Nature

A Myrmeleontidae: antlions, from the Neuroptera order of antlions and owlflies. This order of insects of course contains neither ants, nor lions, owls, or flies—a staple in entomology to name unusual insects with compound names drawing from other animals—e.g., snakeflies, sawflies, and more.

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165100160

The antlion name honors the behaviour of their larvae, which live in ground burrows and trap passing ants with their fearsome mandibles.

#iNaturalist #Antlions #Myrmeleontidae #Neuroptera #entomology #insects #Crete

This sent me down a whole rabbit hole of #lacewings vs #antlions vs #mayflies...
Not a scientist (clearly)
Nice to know that mayflies are in huge clouds only over very clean, highly oxygenated water because their lifecycle means they spend much of it in the water.

Anyway ... "The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be as happy as kings!" ~~R.L. Stevenson

#insects #surfingtheweb

https://phys.org/news/2023-02-rare-insect-arkansas-walmart-historic.html