Beneath the house a moonscape of desperation and death awaits the unsuspecting...
Mmwwaahhhh.....
Nah, not really. There are just a bunch of antlion larvae hanging out, waiting for insects to fall into their little pitfall traps. A trap is shaped so that as an insect struggles to climb out, it instead slides in - the proverbial slippery slope ;) If it doesn't slide in fast enough, the "doodlebug" flings sand at it with its jaws.
Mmwwaahhhh.....
Nah, not really. There are just a bunch of antlion larvae hanging out, waiting for insects to fall into their little pitfall traps. A trap is shaped so that as an insect struggles to climb out, it instead slides in - the proverbial slippery slope ;) If it doesn't slide in fast enough, the "doodlebug" flings sand at it with its jaws.
If you look closely, in the center of the picture you will see the head and jaws of a larva. It is most likely in the genus Myrmeleon. Afraid I don't know the species...
5 comments:
A favorite childhood bug!
Nice photos.
Love the new blog look. it's lovely!! :) nice to see lots of posts again! :D headed to tennessee wednesday, wish me luck! it's going to be a 11 hr drive. *ick*
It's been a long time since I caught a doodlebug. Thanks for posting, and, happy trails...
FC,
Doodlebugs rock! I'm always torn between tossing them a treat and "saving" whatever critter has wandered into the pit of doom ;)
pushesrb,
Eleven hours!!! Ugh. Good luck and drive carefully.
woodduck,
Sounds like it's time for you to go out and poke around in the dirt and reacquaint yourself with the doodlebug :)
Good advice...happy trails.....
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