Click to Enlarge Adult ant lions do not feed on ants. They drink nectar, eat pollen or may not eat anything at all.   A Backyard Lion Hunt by Rosalie Powell This doodling bug crafts the perfect trap. Have you ever heard anyone talk about doodlebugs? There really are such things! The common name for them is "ant lion." Like the big cats of the jungle, they survive by catching and devouring their prey. Ant lions live in loose or sandy soil, usually under the eaves of houses, under porches or in barns. There are about 600 hundred species of ant lions in the world. Only a few of those species live in Missouri. Ant lion adults look like lace-wings or dragonflies and eat fruit and small flies, but the bugs get their name from the larvae of the species, which have thick, fleshy bodies and overly large jaws armed with bristles and strong spines. When an ant lion larva grabs an ant, the ant seldom gets away. Ant lion larvae catch ants by creating a very neat trap consisting of a cone-shaped pit about two inches across. For the trap to work, the sand or soil along the sides must be loose enough to fall inward when it is disturbed even slightly. To build its trap, the ant lion walks backward in ever smaller circles. As it walks its tail works like a shovel to push sand up onto its head. The ant lion then jerks its head to throw the sand clear of the pit. When it is finished digging, the ant lion larva buries itself at the bottom of the pit with only its head showing, and then it waits. Unaware of danger, an ant will eventually wander into the pit. When it tries to get out, sliding sand keeps the ant from reaching the rim. You know what the ant feels like if you've ever tried to climb a steep sand dune. You slide down as much as you climb up. The effort eventually exhausts the ant. For good measure, the ant lion may use its head to throw additional sand at the ant to knock it back toward the bottom. When the ant falls to the bottom of the pit, the ant lion uses its dreadful pincers to grab it. The ant lion then sucks the juices out of the ant and tosses the empty husk outside the pit. An ant lion usually eats for about two weeks, building up a heap of ant husks around its lair. After its feeding period is over, the ant lion makes a silken, pearl-shaped cocoon at the bottom of the pit. It spends about a month in this pupal stage before emerging as a winged insect. Adult ant lions may look like dragonflies, but they don't fly very well. This process of going through several distinct stages on the way to adulthood is called metamorphosis. The ant lion is one of the most primitive insects to undergo complete metamorphosis. This summer, when you are looking to do something fun but different, go on a lion hunt. You can keep a couple ant lions for further study. All you need is some dry sandy soil in a flat box and a plastic cup. Look for the pits in dry soil under porches, rocks or even in barns. There often will be several or even hundreds in a small area. Use the cup to scoop up a whole pit from underneath and put it in a container. Collect several pits and doodlebugs. Do this several times, and then take your catch back to the box. Spread the collected soil out and wait awhile. Soon you will see the ant lions digging new holes. Let them go without food for a day or two, and then collect some ants. You can trap ants in a small jar with a small amount of sugar solution inside. Leave the ant trap near an ant trail. When there are a few ants inside, pick up the jar and seal it. By now your ant lion box will have etch marks in the sand. These are the doodles of the doodlebugs. Release a couple of ants in the middle of the box and watch what happens. In time, the ants will blunder into the pits, and the lions will devour them. When you are done with your experiment, release the doodlebugs in the area where you found them. Ant lions help control ant numbers in the wild, and that is helpful to people.