Nature Notebook » Insects http://naturenotebook.net Having fun exploring nature Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:45:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Fully Grown Ant Lion http://naturenotebook.net/2007/09/04/fully-grown-ant-lion/ http://naturenotebook.net/2007/09/04/fully-grown-ant-lion/#comments Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:29:38 +0000 Kyle http://naturenotebook.net/2007/09/04/fully-grown-ant-lion/ I mentioned in A Lion in a Quart Jar, that an ant lion is the larvae of a damselfly-like insect. You can see what an adult ant lion looks like in this picture:

Ant Lion

And this picture:

Ant Lion

My ant lion destroyed its funnel and didn’t build a new one. After a while, the ant lion emerged as an adult ant lion.

]]> http://naturenotebook.net/2007/09/04/fully-grown-ant-lion/feed/ 0 Monarch Butterflies http://naturenotebook.net/2007/08/10/monarch-butterflies/ http://naturenotebook.net/2007/08/10/monarch-butterflies/#comments Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:02:03 +0000 Becca http://naturenotebook.net/2007/08/10/monarch-butterflies/ I recently took pictures of two Monarch butterflies on separate occasions. Here are the best ones:
monarch.jpg
monarch_2.jpg

Notice that both butterflies are missing some scales and the remaining scales are somewhat smeared.

]]> http://naturenotebook.net/2007/08/10/monarch-butterflies/feed/ 0 Strange Bugs http://naturenotebook.net/2007/07/04/strange-bugs/ http://naturenotebook.net/2007/07/04/strange-bugs/#comments Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:38:27 +0000 Becca http://naturenotebook.net/2007/07/04/strange-bugs/ I found this bug in our house one day. It has spikes on its legs which it tried to use against me when I touched it. I believe that this is a moth as it had scales on its wings.
bug-underside.jpg

Then I saw this beetle on a different day. And no, I didn’t edit this photo!
beetle.jpg

Now I’m stuck wondering what these bugs are.

]]> http://naturenotebook.net/2007/07/04/strange-bugs/feed/ 0 A Lion in a Quart Jar http://naturenotebook.net/2007/06/25/a-lion-in-a-quart-sized-jar/ http://naturenotebook.net/2007/06/25/a-lion-in-a-quart-sized-jar/#comments Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:35:07 +0000 Kyle http://naturenotebook.net/2007/06/25/a-lion-in-a-quart-sized-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.

Ant Lion in a Jar

Capturing an Ant Lion

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

Ant Lion Outside

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.

Captive Ant Lion

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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