common name: an antlion scientific name: Glenurus gratus (Say)
(Insecta: Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) Introduction -
Distribution - Identification - Biology - Detection and Survey -
Economic Importance - Selected References Antlions are common,
conspicuous insects in Florida. Florida has the richest antlion
fauna in the eastern United States with 22 species in nine
genera. Four species are found only in the Keys (Stange 1980a).
Wheeler (1930) called them "demons of the dust", whereas
children in the southern United States coined the term
"doodlebugs" to describe their antics. Although most people
associate them with the funnel-shaped pitfall traps, most of the
genera have other habits often reflected by their movements
which can be very fast across the surface of the sand
(Brachynemurus); slow, creeping movements (Dendroleon); or fast
backward movements under the sand (Vella) (Stange 1980b). One of
the most striking antlions in Florida is Glenurus gratus (Say).
The richly dark-marked wings are distinctive in F