Abstract
The parameters of prey capture and competition are remarkably simple to measure in the larval ant lion (Neuroptera: Myrmeliontidae). There exists a thirteen- to fifty-fold difference in food availability (mg. prey available/mg. predator) between the largest and smallest individuals. The larva grows to the optimal size as a food getter, but no larger before metamorphosing. A special distribution of ant lions minimizing competition is hypothesized and observed. The ant lion does not conform to the concepts of limiting similarity or niche variation. THE ANT LION has long been a naturalist's delight in its exotic method of prey captLre. The larva digs a conical pit in loose sand and lies buried at the vertex. When an insect falls in, the ant lion attempts to grab it with its long ice-tong-shaped mandibles. If it fails and the prey starts to scramble up the side of the pit, the ant lion tosses sand with violent flips of its head, creating land slides that carry the prey back into its jaws. After extracting the fluids, it throws the carcass out of the pit, along the rim. Interest in the ant lion died together with interest in simple natural history, for the last nontaxonomic paper was Wheeler's (1930) monograph. What has not been appreciated is the ant lion's elegance for ecological study. Here I show that the searching capacity, prey size range, and success of capturing prey within this range can all be measured by taking the diameter of the pit; the nutritional history, prey size distribution and abundance by collecting the carcasses around the rim of the pit; and the competitive effect of neighbors, in percent prey intercepted, by the spatial configuration of the pits. Also, while not studied here, it is worth noting that when the animal disperses it does so half submerged in the sand, leaving an easily visable trough as a record of its movements.
Published Version
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