FAQ

Placing your order is very simple. First find the item you want, then click “Add to Cart”. If you would like to continue to shop, click on the other items(s) you would like to purchase in the shopping cart window to add them to the shopping cart. Once you have added all the items you want, click “View Cart” which will show up next to any item you have added to your cart. If you are having trouble placing your order, call us at 877-332-8706.

Ant Lion Kits are shipped Mondays and Thursdays using USPS Priority Mail so it will usually only take about 2 – 5 days for you to get your ant lions. Books are shipped media mail.

To find out how much your shipping costs will be, add the item to your cart, then press “Checkout.” This will show you your totals. To complete the purchase follow the directions.

Ant Lions can only last so long without food and fresh air so we use USPS Priority Mail to make sure your ant lions arrive in a timely and cost-effective manner. 

Holiday Shipping Info:
If you would like your order to arrive by Christmas, we recommend that you place your order by Dec. 18th. If you would like your order to arrive as close to Christmas as possible, just let us know. Remember that your order includes live ant lions. And while they can survive for a while without fresh air, try not to leave them packaged up for longer than 3 days from the time you receive them.

In order to guarantee that your ant lions arrive alive, your low temperatures must be 40 degrees or above before we can ship to you.

We will check your temperatures, and ship out your order as soon as the weather permits.

We currently only ship within the continental United States.

Ant lions are very active diggers. One of the ways to help keep them from throwing sand out is to make sure the sand level in your bowl is not too high. Try taking out some sand of the habitat.

These antlions are in their larval stage and cannot escape the bowl. However, at some point they will cocoon themselves in the sand for about a month, and then reappear as a winged adult ant lion. When they do cocoon, it is a good idea to use netting so that the adult won’t escape — it will almost certainly emerge from its cocoon when you’re not watching. A stick placed upright in the sand will provide the newly emerged adult with a place to rest while its wings expand and harden properly. Ideally, the adult antlion should be returned outside within a day after emerging from the cocoon. If held captive any longer, it will lose energy and may die.

The best time to introduce the ants into the Zen Garden or Habitat is after the ant lions have made their pits. If you drop the ants directly into the pit, you won’t have to worry about the ants getting out. One ant per pit. If you put the ants in the sand with the intent of letting them fall into the pit themselves, just keep an eye on them so they don’t crawl out of the habitat. If they manage to crawl out, just move them back into the habitat. Another idea is to put a thin layer of vaseline around the bowl so the ants can’t get out. 

I have heard rumors that ant lions can bite humans, but I have never had one bite me or anyone I know. You can place them into your palm and they will just scurry around. It kinda tickles. From my experience, there is nothing to be afraid of when handling these Ant Lions.

Most people feed their ant lions with ants and small insects living around outside their homes. However, if you prefer having your ant lion food shipped straight to your door, then you can try these options:

Flightless fruit flies are convenient. You don’t have to worry about feeding the flies, and one vial will last around a month. You can purchase fruit flies here.

Young lobster roaches work very well for feeding your ant lions. Since they breed, they can provide an endless source of nutrition, and are inexpensive. Just be sure to ask them to include a few smaller roaches in your initial order so you can feed your ant lion until the breeders make babies. For more info or to order visit: https://wormman.com/pd_lobster.cfm

At this time, we have not been able to locate a source of ants that will work. If anyone can find a source for smaller ants (smaller than Harvester Ants) that we feel will work, we will pay you $50.

Ant Lions love crickets too. Check with your local pet store to see if they sell pinhead crickets. They probably run about .05 cents per cricket. You can also order them online at www.flukerfarms.com.

We have heard that ant lions get everything they need to survive from their food. However, just to be on the safe side, we recommend that you mist their sand about once every two weeks.

Ant lion larva have been known to live anywhere from one to three years. Then they cocoon themselves for about a month, and emerge as a winged adult ant lion. When they do cocoon, it is a good idea to use netting so that the adult won’t escape — it will almost certainly emerge from its cocoon when you’re not watching. A stick placed upright in the sand will provide the newly emerged adult with a place to rest while its wings expand and harden properly. Ideally, the adult antlion should be returned outside within a day after emerging from the cocoon. If held captive any longer, it will lose energy and may die. The adult ant lion lives from 30 to 45 days. Here is more info on hatching ant lions. Because of the difficulty of telling the age of an Ant Lion, we cannot guarantee how long your Ant Lions will live.

We have had some of our ant lions identified, and found that they were of the species Myrmeleon crudelis Walker. However the species could change from time to time depending when and where we collect them. You can find information regarding the kind of species located in North America here.

Sure, that will be no problem. Just place your order and let us know when you would like your gifts to arrive, and we will make sure they arrive alive and on time.

This article tells the answer. 

An ant lion habitat can be as simple as a styrofoam cup or as elaborate as you want to make it. Just make sure that each ant lion has about two cubic inches of space. It’s that simple!

As babies, our antlions are less than 1/16th of an inch. Within around three years can grow to a little larger than 1/2 an inch.

The following answer comes from Mark Swanson of The Ant Lion Pit. Thanks for the info Mark.
I’ve been asked this question too, and I answer with “probably not.” I haven’t actually put this question to an entomologist, and I don’t have any evidence to support my view, but I’m basing this opinion on the fact that an antlion can eat only one ant every 20 minutes or so and probably couldn’t keep up that pace all day long. I suppose it depends on the size of the ant colony, but my guess is that they could never keep up with them. One of the “beneficial insects” websites includes antlions in its list but doesn’t say that they could actually be used for ant control. Wishful thinking perhaps? I would suggest looking up alternative ant control methods on the web. 

Hatching an adult ant lion