A new insect found in Keralam!
Scientists have discovered a brand-new kind of antlion in the teak forests of Walayar, in Palakkad.
Animal of the week
What did they find?
Keralam scientists, working with a scientist from Hungary, found an antlion that nobody had ever described before. They named it Quta tectona, after the teak tree, whose science name is Tectona. Keralam now has 14 known kinds of antlions.
A sneaky hunter
A baby antlion, called a larva, digs a cone-shaped pit in loose sand and hides at the bottom. When an ant walks over the edge, the sand slides and the ant tumbles in. Snap!
Look for pits
Antlion pits look like tiny funnels, about as wide as a coin, in dry, sandy places under shelters or trees. Look, but don’t poke!
Did you know?In some places, children call antlion larvae doodlebugs, because they leave wiggly lines in the sand while looking for a good spot.
An antlion’s life
1
Egg
The mother lays eggs in sandy soil.
2
Larva
A larva hatches and digs a pit trap. It lives like this for a long time.
3
Cocoon
It makes a ball of sand and silk and changes inside.
4
Adult
It comes out with four long wings, looking a bit like a dragonfly.
Big wordlarva
The young stage of some insects, before they change into adults.
The young stage of some insects, before they change into adults.
Think about itThere are still animals nobody has discovered yet. Where do you think they might be hiding?