The Antlion Life Cycle

Antlions go through complete metamorphosis — four distinct stages, just like butterflies and beetles. Here's the full circle, from egg to winged adult and back again.

1. Egg

A female adult lays her tiny eggs in warm, dry, sandy soil — exactly the kind of sheltered spot where the larva will later hunt. Within a couple of weeks, each egg hatches.

2. Larva (the doodlebug)

This is the stage you watch at home. The larva digs a steep, cone-shaped pit in fine sand and buries itself at the bottom with only its jaws showing. When an ant or other small insect slips over the edge, the larva flicks sand to trigger a tiny landslide and seizes its prey. Antlions spend most of their lives — often a year or more — as larvae, growing and molting between meals.

3. Pupa

When the larva is fully grown, it spins a small spherical cocoon of silk and sand, hidden just beneath the surface. Inside, it transforms completely over several weeks.

4. Adult

A delicate, winged adult emerges, looking a bit like a damselfly or lacewing with long, net-veined wings. Adults are short-lived — their job is to mate and lay the next generation of eggs, closing the circle.

Watch it at home

Your kit lets you observe the larva stage up close — the pit-building and the famous ambush. With patience and care, some larvae will even pupate and emerge as adults. See our care guide to keep yours thriving.