I was unfamiliar with the antlion. Then one day as I walk on the street looking for some subject matter for this blog I see a monster from the movie The Wrath of Khan crossing the sidewalk.
A monster from a nightmare — no, it is just an antlion.
It was photographed in Hungary.
I took some pictures and started searching the Internet, as it turns out it was an antlion, the larval form of an insect in the family Myrmeleontidae in the order Neuroptera.
Antlions are exactly as nasty as they look. An antlion will dig a conical trap in the sand and sit buried just below the bottom wait for an ant or other small insect to fall in. And when it does those nasty looking mandibles close down. And if they weren’t nasty enough as they are the antlion’s bite is also poisonous.
Even though an antlion looks like a monster from a nightmare some people still want one as a pet.
Further Readings:
Neuroptera on Wikipedia.
Keeping Antlions (Doodlebugs) as Pets on about.com.
Observing and Capturing Antlions.