Alien Antlion Life Cycle Kit

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Alien Antlion larvae love to eat live ants and you will love watching them eat ants! They live in the sand and will dig conical-shaped pits to catch ants. Once an ant falls into the Alien Antlions pit, the Antlion will grab the ant and pull it under the sand where it sucks out its guts. When the Alien Antlion has finished with the ant, it will flick the ants’ exoskeleton out of its pit and then wait for another ant to come along! It is fascinating watching the Alien Antlion dig its ant catching pit. Antlions never go to the toilet so there is no other cleaning up!

Information about Antlions

Antlions are from the order Neuroptera and are closely related to lacewings. There are over 2000 species of antlions throughout the world with around 200 species living in Australia and Asia. The adult antlion has 4 net like wings and are from the most primitive order of insects to undergo complete metamorphosis. The larvae of the antlion are commonly called doodlebugs and they dig conical- shaped pits in dry sand in order to catch prey. They commonly eat ants (as their name suggests) which fall into these pits. The antlion larvae will suck out the liquid from inside the prey, and then discard its exoskeleton.

Antlion Life Cycle

Antlions undergo complete metamorphosis and have 4 distinct life stages. They start off as an egg, which can be laid in the sand (depending on the species). Once the larva hatches out of the egg, it will dig its ant-catching pit to catch and eat as much food as it can. The larval stage of the antlion can last form 6 months to several years depending on the amount of available food, the air temperature and the species. Once the larva gets big enough, it will form a cocoon in which to pupate. This is made from the surrounding sand as well as silk produced by the antlion larvae. The cocoon is normally round. Once the antlion larvae have changed into an adult antlion inside the cocoon (around 3 weeks), it will emerge from the sand, find a something to climb onto and wait for its wings to harden so that it is able to fly. The adult antlion can eat small flies but its main concern is to reproduce. The adult will live for 20-25 days and will hopefully find a mate during this time.

Your Alien Antlion Kit will contain 2-3 Alien Antlion Larvae, a Creature Cottage to keep them in, instructions on how to make a special ant catcher and detailed instructions. You will need to purchase some sand for the antlions to make their pits in (ask us about it)