Not a Tarantula, but. . .

[Yvonne G]

This is a picture of the ground in front of my what used to be called a barn, but is now just a storage shed. I hardly ever go in there, and the ground is never disturbed:

I'm fascinated by these little guys. It's amazing! One wouldn't think there would be enough food in one place for that many trap door spiders.

 

[DustyD]

Wow that is cool. Do you ever have the urge to take some crickets or superworms and toss them over to see what happens? Maybe a lot at once?

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes. When I first noticed them, years ago, I would try to find some of those large tree ants. I'd drop one in a hole and quietly wait for the action. When closed, the door is undetectable. As soon as the tiny spider senses the ant he darts out, grabs it and slides back behind the door. Crickets or meal worms are too big. These guys are tiny.

 

[DustyD]

Nice. So if i get lots of nusance ants in my house, I'll know where to ship them

 

[Casey K.]

They're called "Ant lions". I used to catch them with a blade of grass as a kid. They're awesome to observe. They're gray in color. You can blow the sand away from the bottom and see them. Then they just burrow themselves back in the sand again, lol. Ahhhh......childhood memories. They're classified as an insect and they're really cool.

 

[DustyD]

Ah, i was fascinated by them as a kid myself and even kept one, or maybe it was a school project. I used to watch the prey sliding down the embankment only to be caught by the ant lion below. I can't remember if the ant lion was doing anything to speed up the prey's slipping or just if it was just a sand slide created by the insect.

 

[Casey K.]

Ah, i was fascinated by them as a kid myself and even kept one, or maybe it was a school project. I used to watch the prey sliding down the embankment only to be caught by the ant lion below. I can't remember if the ant lion was doing anything to speed up the prey's slipping or just if it was just a sand slide created by the insect.

They do! They flip the sand up on the side of the embankment and try to knock the prey further down into the hole. It's so awesome to watch, lol.

 

[DustyD]

Yeah, that's what i thought but could not remember for sure. Kinda obvious now that I think more about it. Never let a meal get away!

 

[Yvonne G]

They're called "Ant lions". I used to catch them with a blade of grass as a kid. They're awesome to observe. They're gray in color. You can blow the sand away from the bottom and see them. Then they just burrow themselves back in the sand again, lol. Ahhhh......childhood memories. They're classified as an insect and they're really cool.

OMG! All this time I thought they were spiders. But I just did a Google image search for 'ant lion' and it's not a spider at all.

 

[Aracnoenthusiast]

As I was looking at the pictures I suspected ant lions also. Super cool