Photo: J. Gallego/Macroinstantes
- via Why
Evolution is True
Spanish photographer J. Gallego of the Microinstantes
blog captured the eye-popping pictures above of the
larva of a species of lacewing or thread-winged antlion (of the tribe
Crocinae) with an extremely elongated prothorax and fearsome jaws.
Now, this probably reminded you of the iconic scene in Alien 3 where
Ripley came face to face with the Alien xenomorph.
Image: Twentieth Century Fox
Not only that, the insect is also like the Sarlacc, which inhabits the
Great Pit of Carkoon, from the movie Star Wars.
Image: Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
Why Sarlacc, you ask? Here's why. An antlion
larva digs sand pit trap and buries itself in the center of the pit with
its jaws just below the surface, waiting for an unsuspecting ant to wander
in.
An ant that steps into the loose sand of the pit would slip to the bottom,
right to the waiting jaws of the antlion. A quick snap of the long mandibles
not only captures the ant, but also injects into it a cocktail of digestive
enzmes to
liquify the content of the victim's body.
Escaping the trap isn't easy - if an ant tries to climb up the wall of
the pit, the antlion would start throwing sand and pebbles at the insect
to make it fall back (the sandy wall of the pit is also prone to collapse,
thus sending the victim back to the maws of the waiting antlion).
(Entomologist Gil Wizen has a fascinating
photo of the Crocinae larvae emerging
from its sandy death trap)
Here's a video clip of how an Antlion pit works from the Discovery channel's
Monster Bug Wars: