Doodle Bugs
Doodle Bugs
By Don Robinson
Have you ever seen a patch of funnel shaped indentations in dry earth? Perhaps you've seen them under your cabin or awning, or along some dry sandy flat area? They don't look very extraordinary, are about as big as a quarter and some might think the conical shaped 'holes' are caused by dripping water. They may be, but they may also be the traps set by ant lions, also called doodle bugs.
Ant lions or myrmeleontidae form a family of about 2000 different species worldwide, although only 100 or so inhabit North America, mostly in dry areas of the Southwest and Mexico, but there is at least one species along the Cacapon River.
My first experience with ant lions was near Franklin WV where my parents had a camp when I was a child. There were a few caves across Thorn Creek Road from the camp, and the perpetually dry soil in front of the caves always had those conical holes. My dad used to take a piece of straw and skim it around the top of the holes while incanting 'doodle-up, doodle-up' and on rare occasions would fool the ant lion into biting the straw, and pull him up for us to see. The ant lions lying in ambush at the bottom of the funnel shaped holes are the larva. They are small (body about as big as a fingernail) but fierce looking insects that set these traps for ants, digging out the funnels and dining on those who wander into the holes. The loose soil gives way, falling to the bottom of the hole, alerting the tiny monster and the poor ant continues to slide deeper into the pit. Eventually, a few thumps in the sand and the ant is captured in the long pincer-like mouth.
To give you an idea of what they look like, the ant lion was the model for the creature put into Ensign Checkov's ear in the Star Trek II movie 'The Wrath of Khan'.
I see them in many places near the river, as there are lots of decks, raised cabins, porches, awnings and such creating dry patches of loose sandy soil where these denizens of the dirt live. I have had more luck enticing them out to show my kids by putting live ants in the holes than my dad did with his straw, and I haven't yet needed to give the incantation. I suppose that wasn't the important part, but it kept my attention.
The adult stage of this insect is gracefully long and slender, much resembling a damsel fly or small dragon fly. Like the damsel fly, they are not very skilled fliers, and usually active mostly in the evening. They have four wings and the body is about one and a half inches long with a wing span to around three inches. If you look closely, the compound eyes of the adult are amazingly multi-colored and brilliant. Mating occurs when a female hangs from a twig then the male attaches his genitalia to the female's and hangs suspended by the genitalia for a few hours. Don't try this at home! The female lays her 20 or so eggs in sandy dry earth and will return to her tree to mate again. The adult lives about three weeks.
They are called doodle bugs because they can sometimes draw elaborate doodles in their dry dirt habitat while looking for a suitable place to make their trap. When such is found, they usually spiral to open up the conical pit. The larva may live for up to three years, and form a cocoon from which the adult emerges in about a month.