(Neuroptera). The name was given due to the characteristic appearance and lifestyle of the larvae. Distinctive features family: the head is set vertically, usually has no ocelli, the sides are club-shaped at the end or have a head at the end; abdomen long, narrow. Larvae with large jaws, serrated on the inner edge, equipped with a canal (with the help of which they suck out prey), and with a short, wide abdomen. The larvae of a number of species build characteristic cone-shaped funnels in sandy soils, in which small ground insects are caught.
Genus Myrmeleon with thick club-shaped antennae that are shorter or scarcely longer than the head and thorax; the hind wings are slightly shorter than the front wings. The larvae have 7 simple eyes on each side; chest narrowed; the abdomen is very wide, convex; the body is covered with hairs.
Antlion larva
Antlion larva
The larvae of some species simply live in the sand, chasing various small animals there, but in others (M. formicarius and M. formicalynx) they dig a conical hole in the sand, throwing out the sand with their heads, and carry larger pebbles and grains of sand on their backs, tearing out a funnel, which in adult larvae can reach 5 cm deep. and 7-8 cm in diameter; the larva buries itself in the sand in the center, sticking out only its jaws, and waits for prey; various insects, most often ants, as well as spiders and others, stepping on the edge of the funnel, roll down with sand inside it and are grabbed by the larvae (this method of hunting is played out in many films, for example, the Sarlacc from the film Star Wars. Episode VI. Return of the Jedi was created with an eye on the trap antlions).
Antlion larva trapping funnel
If the insect is strong and energetically gets out of the funnel, the larva throws sand at it, (it’s hard to say whether it’s targeted or at random) throwing it out sudden movements heads (in a similar way, she removes the sand that fills the funnel). The impact of grains of sand often knocks the victim off his feet, after which he rolls to the bottom of the trap. The larva plunges its sickle-shaped jaws into the prey and injects digestive juices under its covers, after which it sucks out the dissolved contents of the body and with a blow of its head throws out the empty chitinous exoskeleton from the funnel. Having reached full development, the larva makes a spherical cocoon in the sand with the help of silky threads, turns into a pupa in it, and after four weeks - into adult insect, leaving the cocoon half extended out of the sand. M. formicarius black- gray with yellowish spots, fore wings with brown spots, hind wings with one black spot; length 18-30 mm, length of the upper wing 27-36 mm; found throughout Europe except England and Sweden. M. formicalynx is black with an admixture of pale yellow, wings without spots, veins black and whitish, length 25-32 mm, length of the upper wing 30-45 mm. Common throughout Europe except England and Spain.
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See what “Antlion” is in other dictionaries:
ANT LION- an unimaginable monster, described by Gustave Flaubert as follows: “In front is a lion, behind is an ant with the genitals inside out.” This fantastic image arose in the Middle Ages from biblical expression in the Book of Job: “A mighty lion perishes without... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia
- (Myrmeleon) insect from the order Neuroptera, family Myrmeleontidae. Distinctive features of the family: the head is set vertically, usually has no ocelli, the legs are club-shaped at the end or have a head at the end; ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
This term has other meanings, see Antlion. Wikipedia has a portal “Half Li ... Wikipedia
Antlion: Antlions a family of insects from the order Netoptera. Antlions ( Half Life) a number of fictional insect-like alien creatures from the Half Life series of computer games ... Wikipedia
COMMON ANTLION- (Myrmeleon formicarius) belongs to the lacewings. In total, about 2 thousand species of these insects are known. The insect is dark gray in color with yellow spots on the head and chest. It is found mainly in coniferous forests and prefers sandy... ... Insect life
Dictionary Ushakova
1. LEO1, Leo, male. 1. A large predatory mammal of the cat family, yellowish in color, with a lush mane in males. "Mighty Lion, Terror of the Forests." Krylov. The fighters fought like lions. || A sculptural image of this animal on the gate posts, on... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
This term has other meanings, see Antlion. Antlions are fictional insect-like alien creatures from computer game Half Life 2, coming from the world of Zen. With real-life... ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Antlion (meanings). ? Antlions ... Wikipedia
The common antlion (lat. Myrmeleon formicarius) is a Eurasian species of heat-loving insect from the family Myrmeleotidae of the order Neuroptera. It got its name because of the exorbitant appetite of its larvae. It is widely believed that they resemble real lions in their incredible gluttony.
Habitat ranges from Western Europe to Far East almost anywhere there are sandy soil areas and a temperate or warm climate prevails. Most often the species is observed in desert and semi-desert regions.
Behavior
During the day, adults rest with folded wings in secluded places, on stumps and tree branches. They are very difficult to notice due to their nondescript appearance. They begin to be active at dusk.
Adults fly low and heavily, mainly along the edges of forests, gardens, parks and other green spaces. Very often they sit on plants and rest, getting tired during the flight. They become most active and visible at night. Like larvae, adults are convinced predators. They willingly eat a variety of small insects, paying special attention aphids, small flies and caterpillars.
During the mating season, antlions acquire a brutal appetite. Hungry females after mating often eat their lovers, as well as other males who happen to be near her. This way they acquire additional protein, which is necessary for laying eggs.
The female lays eggs in well-heated soft sand.
She makes a small hole in the lower part of her abdomen and, trembling her wings, lowers one egg into it using the ovipositor. Then she flies to another place and repeats the procedure.
The hatched larvae independently dig funnel-shaped holes, reaching up to 5 cm in depth and up to 8 cm in diameter. Their size largely depends on the size of the larva itself and the looseness of the soil. The young predator hides almost completely in its shelter, with only its wide-open jaws exposed above the surface. They blend into the sand and are completely invisible to the future victim.
When building a funnel, the larva, like a crayfish, moves backwards and quickly burrows into soft soil. Then, after a few minutes of rest, she crawls out, pushing grains of sand in all directions and using powerful movements of her head. Then she comes back, spinning in a circle.
It turns out something similar to spiral-shaped channels with a fixed center. In conclusion construction work the larva plunges sharply into the sand, turning the spirals into a funnel.
Antlions are not territorial animals. Many hunters can peacefully settle nearby, reasonably believing that there is enough prey for everyone.
How and what does an antlion eat?
Antlion larvae are tireless and very aggressive predators. Ants look especially appetizing in their eyes, so their burrows quite often appear near anthills. In addition to ants, they eat any insects that fall into their trap.
Their victims include spiders (Araneae), hemiptera (Hemiptera), beetles (Coleoptera) and other arthropods (Arthropoda). They have virtually no chance of getting out of the trap.
The faster the ant caught in the funnel tries to get out, the more the grains of sand fall off, dragging it to the bottom directly into the mouth of the predator. Additionally, the female larva, using circular movements of its head, throws grains of sand into them, speeding up the process. She grabs a fallen victim with her sickle-shaped upper jaws with teeth, along the inner edge of which there is a thin groove. The lower jaw is pressed against it from below and enters the body of the caught prey.
Through the groove, a special liquid enters the caught insect, which digests it internal organs into a semi-liquid pulp.
The death of an ant occurs in one minute, and of a larger spider in 2-3 minutes.
After pupation, the larva lies in the ground in a single-layer spherical earthen cocoon. Until this moment, she manages to winter twice. In most of the range, adults appear in June and can be observed until the end of August.
Description
The body length of the larvae is about 12 mm. It is wide and massive, with a developed torso and abdominal cavity. The head is small and strongly flattened, with simple black eyes and large curved mandibles equipped with teeth and hairs.
The legs are very small, but movable, easily moving back and forth. The color is sandy or yellowish-brown and serves as an excellent camouflage.
The body length of the imago is about 35 mm, and the wingspan is up to 80 mm. The head is relatively small, with round shiny eyes set on its sides. On top of them are sensitive antennae, thickened in the upper part in the form of a thin club. The pronotum is black, with two yellowish spots, which are often connected to each other. The wings are transparent and permeated with a dense network of brown-black veins.
The lifespan of an adult common antlion is about one month.
I. Khalifman
Not only in the south, but also in middle lane country in the summer in the forest, along the edges of roads, especially in those almost always dry places where the exposed sandy soil is covered from rain and wind by sagging turf, the eye sometimes manages to notice a small but surprisingly regular conical funnel. “Eh, something’s not easy here...” – you immediately say to yourself.
This is true.
As soon as you bring a ribbon to the very bottom of the funnel and touch the sand with it, a tiny gray monster, thickly sprinkled with grains of sand, will immediately dig into the ribbon with its mandibles.
This little one is smaller than the smallest pea - the freak is the antlion larva - worst enemy ants.
Last year we late autumn got antlion larvae, and wrote to my friend in Dushanbe to send him several such larvae. For various reasons, I was only able to receive the package on the thirty-sixth day after it was sent.
But neither the long journey from the Iranian border to Moscow, nor lying at the post office had any impact on the well-being of the larvae; they did not die of starvation.
It turned out that they can live safely without receiving food, not only for a month, but also for six months, a year... The ability to starve for a long time is very important for the larva: it is not always provided with food.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and begin our story in order with a description of an adult antlion.
Antlion larva (enlarged).
Imagine a dark gray insect very similar to a dragonfly. Its four large wings, almost identical in size and pattern, are colorless. The flat-round gray chest rests on six segmented legs. The big-eyed head bears two short antennae, crowned at the ends with small swellings, making each antennae look like a club.
Such is the general outline portrait of an antlion. There are a lot of antlion species in the south. Even experts know nothing about how the winged antlion feeds, except that it does not pay any attention to anthills or ants. This is understandable: after all, the antlion is nocturnal and, as a rule, flies at that time of day when the ants are usually already sitting in anthills.
The female antlion lays eggs, attaching them to a twig or stone in a fairly dry and sandy place. Each egg hatches into a larva that is not at all similar to its parents. She is the hero of this story. 
Trap funnel.
The larva is initially so small that it is best to look at it with a good magnifying glass. First of all, attention is drawn to the head with relatively large sickle-shaped jaws, a mobile neck capable of stretching into a stalk, and, finally, a wide, flat body of a yellowish-gray color. What is especially noteworthy about the larva is that it has neither a mouth for receiving food nor an opening for ejecting its remains. Despite this, the larva feeds regularly. Along inner surface The crooked upper jaws of the larva have a groove running through them. Narrow lower jaws are attached to it like a lid: a closed channel is formed with an entrance at the sharp end of the jaws. The exit from the canal is not visible, but it is there: at the base of the jaw, a groove flows into the lateral corner of the oral cavity. The mouth opening is also invisible: the upper and lower lips are tightly pressed to each other. Food can only enter the mouth through a groove-channel, and, of course, it must be very liquid.
The jaws, together with the muscular pharynx, form a peculiar device. Parts of it can take different positions: first, when the jaws are folded and together with the head form a flat shovel for digging sand; second, when the jaws are folded so as to form a pump that serves to infuse digestive juice into the victim’s wound; and, finally, the third position, when the pump turns from pumping to pumping out and when the killed victim is sucked out.
Undigested food remains accumulate in the hindgut of the larva, remain here during pupation, pass into the body of an adult insect, and only the winged antlion throws out from its intestine the remains of food that was eaten in the larval stage.
The tiny larva hatched from the egg soon begins to look for a place where it will hunt, feed, and grow.
When a suitable place for the trap is found, the larva begins to settle down. The action takes place at night, in the dark. But the larva calmly continues to work even when artificial lighting. Thanks to this, it was possible to trace all the details of the construction of that sand trap, which the larva sets up with great speed and accuracy, and most importantly, in a very original way. 
The larva prepares to sink its jaws into the ant's abdomen.
Screwing its head into the sand like a corkscrew, the larva draws a circular furrow with the end of its abdomen. Then, with a second pass, repeating the same circle, the larva uses its front leg to scoop up sand onto its wide head and, like a shovel, throws it out. Further, inside the dug furrow, a second one is laid, and a third one is laid in it... With each new circle, the larva throws the sand further and further and buries itself deeper and deeper into the dry, loose dust of the funnel.
The larva, having emerged from the egg, is immediately ready to construct its funnel-shaped trap. This is its innate skill: the insect does not learn it. But here’s what you can’t help but be surprised by: trapping funnels are made at night, in the dark, and, as a rule, they find themselves placed in areas of the southern slopes that are well lit during the day. It is still unclear what the secret is: how the larva finds the necessary conditions in the dark.
Burying her head in the sand and exposing only her open jaws, she hides in the depths of the funnel. A larva can spend a day, a week, a month like this.
It is not for nothing that it is said that the antlion obtains food for itself not through strength and courage, but through cunning, and most importantly, patience. Why is this creature called a lion?
The larva emits a peculiar odor reminiscent of an ant. As soon as any insect running on the ground crosses the edges of the crater dug by the lion (the vague ant smell floating from the crater serves as a signal to the ants that the area has been explored), the sand begins to crumble. It flows down the slopes of the funnel to its center, dragging the victim deeper into the sand trap. The more energetically the insect tries to stop, turn around, and leave, the more sand runs away from under its legs.
A moment or two passes, and if the insect is still trying to resist the force dragging it down, a flat, spade-shaped head emerging from the depths of the trap, with sharp movements, throws the sand in the direction from which the grains of sand are flowing.
And so, floundering and tumbling, the insect rolls to the bottom, where it falls into the jaws of the larva. 
Adult antlion.
If the prey is grabbed awkwardly, the predator will let it go or even throw it onto the slope itself, so that when it falls again, it will pierce the ant’s abdomen with its jaws.
As soon as the jaws of the larva closed, piercing into the abdomen of the victim, internal structure The “pump” takes on the second – injection position. The victim usually immediately weakens resistance: the digestive juice injected into the body paralyzes the ant, and it soon dies.
So, the ant is captured, paralyzed, killed. Digestive juice injected into the prey continues its work. Now a new rearrangement of the working parts takes place, taking the third position: the pump begins to suck, and soon the victim is drained dry. The larva throws the empty shell of the sucked prey out of the funnel.
Then the larva repairs the crumbling and destroyed slopes of the treacherous trap during the battle, and nothing else speaks of the drama that recently occurred here.
It still happens that some victims manage to escape alive from the jaws of the predator. After such an incident, the larva enlarges the funnel, burrowing even deeper.
After the sand trap has served its purpose, delivering to its builder required quantity woodlice, millipedes, spiders, but most of all ants, the growth of the larva ends and silk thread begins to emerge from its spinning glands. The larva begins to build a rounded sandy cocoon, in which it turns into a pupa.
An adult antlion crawls out of a cocoon hidden in the sand, still quite fragile. The wings hang in soft flaps on the sides of the oblong body. Crawling onto a branch, the antlion warms itself, strengthens itself, and cleans itself. Gradually his wings dry out and straighten. He moves them slowly and hesitantly for several minutes, as if testing, and suddenly rises into the air and flies off to look for a mate.
Our family loves sweet peppers, so we plant them every year. Most of the varieties that I grow have been tested by me for more than one season; I cultivate them constantly. I also try to try something new every year. Pepper is a heat-loving plant and quite whimsical. Varietal and hybrid varieties of tasty and productive sweet peppers, which grow well for me, will be discussed further. I live in central Russia.
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Meat balls in sauce with mashed potatoes - a simple second dish prepared based on Italian cuisine. The more common name for this dish is meatballs or meatballs, but the Italians (and not only them) call such small round cutlets meat balls. The cutlets are first fried until golden brown, and then stewed in a thick vegetable sauce - it turns out very tasty, simply delicious! Any minced meat is suitable for this recipe - chicken, beef, pork.
Chrysanthemum is called the queen of autumn, because it is at this time that she bright inflorescences decorate the garden. But chrysanthemums can be grown throughout the season - from February to December, and in heated greenhouses - even during the winter months. If you organize the process correctly, you can sell planting material and chrysanthemum flowers all year round. This article will help you understand how much effort it takes to grow chrysanthemums in large quantities.
Antlions and Alliance Soldiers
Ant Lion
Antlion - social advanced insect huge sizes.
General information
Origin: Presumably native to Xen. Didn't appear in Half-Life 1. According to another version, antlions come from some unnamed world, which is also the original homeland of the Vortigaunts. According to the Vortigaunt's remarks from Episode Two: "Lion breeding has long been considered one of our most important activities" (not verbatim). It is worth paying attention to the fact that the Vortigaunts themselves are not the indigenous inhabitants of Xen, but a kind of refugees. Therefore, antlions could be inhabitants of the Vortigaunt homeworld, from where they came to earth through Xen.
Antlions are aggressive towards any other creature, be it Harvesters, headcrabs or any other creature. This behavior suggests their similarity to terrestrial ants - both in life activity and in hierarchy.
Since antlions are eusocial insects, they never attack alone, preferring to attack in numbers, akin to ordinary ants.
Caste system
Antlions have a hierarchy similar to terrestrial eusocial insects such as ants, termites, wasps and bees. An example of this is their division into castes, such as Soldiers (engaged in reconnaissance and hunting), Workers (engaged in creating underground tunnels using acidic saliva and arranging a nest) and Guards (individuals adapted to combat, covered with durable chitinous armor and possessing special glands - feropods). Thanks to the feropods, the Guards can control the behavior of the Soldiers using the special secret of the feropods and are a kind of commanders who lead the invasion of the colony.
Life and reproduction
Antlions live and breed underground, digging through millions of tunnels and passages, thanks to which they can get almost anywhere. The earth's soil and rock are perfect for these insects as a place to found colonies. As a result, antlions, perhaps better than all other creatures that came to Earth with portal storms, adapted to new living conditions. Over the 20 years of living in a new environment, they multiplied in huge quantities, becoming a serious threat to the Combines.
It is almost impossible to contain antlions with open fire given their superior numbers, so the Combines began to use special “scaring” technologies - “perimeter limiters”. These devices, regularly hitting the ground, create strong vibrations that scare away antlions and prevent them from approaching a dangerous distance, even underground.
It is likely that the antlion invasion is responsible for the extinction of most of the earth's fauna, and the Alliance uses the threat of antlions in its propaganda, intimidating people and encouraging them to remain in controlled cities. Indeed, thanks to the main giant perimeter limiter installed at the base of the Citadel, antlions cannot get into City 17.
Structure and types
Antlion - soldier
U antlions - soldier the position of the limbs vaguely resembles a terrestrial grasshopper and is, as it were, turned backwards - that is, the base of the front legs is further from the head than the base of the hind legs. The ends of the paws are pointed. Head triangular shape, with three short mandibles protruding directly from the mouth at the top and two slightly longer and curved towards the top at the bottom. At the bottom of the head there is a pair of short grasping paws. The torso is located almost perpendicular and directed upward from the head. Antlions attack with their front and grasping paws, as well as with their mandibles. They move quite quickly, and are also able to make small flights over short distances with the help of their wings located on their backs under the elytra.
Antlion - guard
Antlion - guard (or guardian, as well as myrmidon) several times larger than soldier lions and reaches about four to five meters in length. The position of the limbs is the same as that of soldiers, only the limbs themselves are stronger and more powerful. Most of the body is the head, located vertically and consisting of several segments covered with a chitinous shell. There are no wings as such; instead, on the back there are two pairs of bluish feather-like processes, which are apparently reduced wings. The color is either brownish-brown (a regular guard) or light green with luminescence (like the nest guard in the second chapter of Episode Two; this type of guard is also poisonous).
The antlion guard has enormous strength: his main weapon is a strong segmented head, with which he inflicts crushing blows, uses it as a battering ram, and also throws various objects that come his way. Thanks to pheromones, the guardian is able to control the soldier antlions, so he always appears accompanied by them.
Antlion - worker
Antlion - worker- a caste found only inside the nest or in its immediate vicinity. The structure of the body - the position of the paws, torso and the presence of a pair of grasping paws from the bottom of the head - are similar to soldiers. The head itself is several times larger than the head of a lion soldier and has a rounded shape with two pairs of mandibles protruding forward and a pair of antennae on the right and left sides. There are no elytra; main wings small size, located directly on the back not far from the head - due to them, working lions are able to make longer flights than soldiers can. The coloring of worker antlions varies from light pale green to yellowish with luminescence.
Working lions make passages underground and in rocks, using the corrosive acid contained in their saliva, which they can also use against enemies by shooting it at them from a distance. The acid volleys of worker antlions are very accurate and, in addition to the main damage, inflict additional poison, reducing the health indicator for a while. At the moment of death, the working lion explodes, dousing the surrounding area with acid. In addition, workers are more intelligent than soldiers and usually do not engage in open and frontal combat, preferring to stay at a distance, spitting acid at the enemy and constantly changing their location, climbing to distant ledges from where they can more conveniently fire and set up ambushes. .
Antlion larva
Antlion larvae can be found almost everywhere in the underground tunnels and passages of the colony. They are harmless and fragile creatures, reaching about half a meter in length and having an elongated light yellow-green luminous body with three pairs of legs located closer to a large brown head with a round mouth. The larvae themselves do not attack, but when an enemy approaches, they begin to get nervous and squeal anxiously, warning the adults of the danger. The larvae feed on everything that the lion soldiers bring to them: in some parts of the nest you can find caves with larvae, filled with blood and strewn with gnawed remains of people and pieces of zombies.
If you kill a larva, a yellow pellet will fall out of it, having medicinal properties. Apparently, this is the basis of the very larval extract that vortigaunts use for healing and healing wounds.
Habitats on Earth
Antlions are usually found where they can easily get to the surface from underground - that is, where the soil mainly consists of sand or other fairly loose and soft substance. Thus, in Half-Life 2, in the chapters “Highway 17” and “Sand Traps,” antlions live on the coast of a dry sea, where they hide under the sand and react to vibrations from the footsteps of other creatures or traffic, climbing to the surface and attacking. If you move on stones and rocks, or on any other suitable objects, the antlions will not feel the vibration and will not come to the surface. It is also worth noting that antlions cannot swim and therefore are afraid of water. Once in a deep enough body of water, they begin to flounder frantically and soon drown.
Antlions are, however, strong enough to be able to penetrate harder substances, such as asphalt or concrete, as seen during the antlion invasion of Nova Prospect Prison in the chapter of the same name in Half-Life 2 and in City 17 in Episode One. - after the fall of the Citadel's protective barriers. in Episode Two, the colony of antlions is partially located in the underground building of the abandoned and dilapidated mine "Name of the 50th Anniversary of Victory", the corridors and adits of which alternate with caves and tunnels built by antlion workers.