Larva of a Lion

What am I looking at?

This is a dorsal view (from the top, looking down) of the head and mandibles of an antlion larva, a member of the Myrmeleontidae family. You can see the mechanosensory bristles (1) that cover its head; its six pairs of ocelli, or simple eyes (2); its large mandibles (3); and its developing antennae (4).

Biology in the background

Antlions get their name due to their predatory nature during the larval stage pictured here. The adult antlion is a winged insect that looks somewhat like a skinny, drab dragonfly. 

But the larval stage, during which it’s also called a doodlebug, is where the antlion spends most of its life and does most of its eating. The larvae have a relatively slow metabolism and therefore can go long periods without eating; they may spend up to several years in that stage.

They are ambush predators and build funnel-shaped, conical pits in the sand. Some species of antlions hide in leaf litter, while others live on tree bark disguised as clumps of lichen, pieces of which they attach to their bodies. They wait patiently, burrowed at the bottom of their conical sand trap with only their mandibles protruding. Being almost blind, they rely on their mechanosensory bristles to alert them to the presence of prey near the edge of the funnel. Their strike is lightning fast; they grab the prey – an ant or other small insect – with their pincer-like mandibles and inject it with a cocktail of paralytic toxins and digestive enzymes. Then they use their mandibles as drinking straws to suck in the liquified tissues.

The adults, sometimes known as antlion lacewings, live for only about 25 days. They can feed on nectar but spend most of their time searching for a mate, mating, then (for the females) laying eggs.

The larvae can grow up to 1.25 centimeters long, or slightly smaller than a human thumbnail. The adults can have a wingspan of up to 15 centimeters, or slightly under 6 inches.

Technique

This image was created using confocal microscopy.