Antlion Care

Congratulations on your purchase from Antlionfarms.com!

You are about to embark on a most interesting and educational journey.
Here are some easy care instructions to help you get the most enjoyment from your antlions.

1. Prepare the antlion’s habitat

Place the sand into your antlion habitat.
If you are making your own habitat make sure your sand (you can also use sugar) is about two inches deep. For optimal placement, make sure each antlion has about two square inches of space.

2. Crack open your antlion containers.

Inside you will find your antlions in sand. At this time you are more than welcome to put them in the palm of your hand. They will not bite, but will try to scurry about so be careful.

3. When you are ready, place the antlions into their new home.

You might want to make sure they are spread out evenly.

4. Watch as your new pets scurry about and see why they are sometimes called doodlebugs.

If your antlions don’t immediately start making their pits, don’t worry. Give them a couple of days to get settled in.
Tip: If your antlions are motionless, they might be playing dead. Breathing hot air on them usually gets them going.

5. Every few days or so, count the number of pits you see and drop in the same number of ants into the habitat. THEN WATCH THE SHOW. To simulate rain, every week or so slightly mist their sand with water.

Most people feed their antlions with ants and small insects living around outside their homes. However, during the winter months, ants and other small insects might be harder to find. In these times, you can feed your antlions pinhead crickets or feeder fruit flies. Your local pet store might have them or you can buy them online at Flucker’s. I would recommend the fruit flies. They are easy to keep and very inexpensive.

It’s that easy!

Remember that the antlions you have are in their larval stage. At some point, they will cocoon themselves in the sand and emerge as a winged adult antlion. For information about what to do then please visit our FAQ section on the site.

For class project ideas or for additional information, visit: https://antlionfarms.com/antlions-for-education

If you have additional questions or concerns, feel free to call or email us.

We enjoyed having these little guys with us. We hope you give them a good home, and that they provide you and your kids many hours of education and entertainment.