A Lion in a Quart Jar

Though it would be very hard to stuff a lion into a quart jar, an ant lion could fit with plenty of room to spare.

An ant lion is the larvae of a damselfly-like insect. Ant lions make funnels in sandy soil to trap ants and other small insects that an ant lion can eat. They usually hide on the side of the funnel and very near the bottom. If an ant is in the funnel, the ant lion will throw sand on to the side of the funnel to keep the ant in the funnel. The picture below shows an ant lion in a quart jar.

Capturing an Ant Lion

The first step would be to look for an ant lion funnel in sandy soil.

After that, locate the ant lion in the funnel. The method I found worked the best for me was to drop an ant in the funnel to locate the ant lion. When an ant lion is located, pull it out and put it in a container that has been prepared for the ant lion.

The Ideal Home of a Captive Ant Lion

An ant lion needs about 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) of sandy soil. The ideal container for an ant lion would not have a large bottom so that the ant lion’s funnel covers most of the surface area at the bottom of the container.

The container also needs to have a covered opening because an ant lion is the larvae of a winged insect that looks similar to a damselfly.

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