Today I noticed a cluster of four or five dime-to-quarter-sized pits in dark soil beneath a burning bush shrub along our driveway in central Ohio. I believe they were dug by antlion larvae. Can someone recommend a gentle way to definitively ID the pits and observe one of the larvae? I can of course …

You will have to take the larva out of the pit, I do this by poking at the bottom of pit with a pine needle to get the larva to come up and try to attack the needle

I was told to use a plastic teaspoon to dig up at the bottom of the pit and lift the larva out gently.

Just a general question here: Can an antlion larva ‘redig’ a hole once its been taken out? Or do they emerge from an egg underground and construct the hole upwards after emerging? I guess I can wiki it!

The proper way to do this, as taught to me by my mother here in Texas, is to gently prod the bottom of the pit with a stick while singing… Doodlebug, doodlebug, Come out of your hole Your house is on fire, And your children will burn https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=6352

I don’t know if they’re born underground but I know they re-dig. When I was a kid we’d gently scoop them up with just our hands and watch them scuttle backwards across our palms. When we put them back on the ground they’d immediately hide back under the loose soil, wait a while, and then start co…

A time-honored method that my husband uses with his entomology students goes like this: slide a plastic card (like a gift card, credit card, or your driver’s license*) beneath the entire pit, from the side, aiming the lowest point of your “scoop” about a centimeter below the bottom of the cone. Bala…

Thank you, WeeCorbie and all for your helpful replies. WeeCorbie - I will try your method, which is much like using the spoon mentioned by susanhewitt. Maybe we can improve your 3:4 odds by singing “Doodlebug, doodlebug, Come out of your hole…” (Thank you Pfau_Tarlton for your anecdote!) I will expe…

Thank you, trh_blue. I had posted a photo of three of the pits as an observation. The photo included a dime to show scale. I’m new to iNat and wasn’t sure whether I should post an image/observation of the pits, since it showed an object and not an organism. Thanks again for your comment. :)

Sure! Any evidence of an organism is acceptable. Eg scat, scratch marks, feathers.

Best way to expose and observe antlion larvae

Nature Talk

astra_the_dragon September 11, 2020, 9:54pm 2

You can start by taking some photos (with something for scale) and uploading them to iNat ;)

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Best way to expose and observe antlion larvae

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