20th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Death Trap

Walking across a large sandbar, I noticed many small pits on the ground. He knew that there was an ant lion larva in every pit, waiting to catch ants passing by. I lay on the ground and focused on the scene, filming the beginning of the struggle. The ant lion larva finally subdued the prey and dragged it to the sand.The ant lion larvae live underground. An ant lion larva larva digs a hole, crawls backward in a spiral shape, and pushes out the soil above it to trap prey. Continue digging until the pit reaches a critical slope - at this point, any disturbance above will cause collapse. When the prey falls, the larvae are ready to use stinging pincers.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 09.2022
Date Uploaded: 11.2022
Photo Location: Wuhan City, China
Camera: NIKON Z 7_2
Copyright: © Yuan Minghui