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Hello: for some reason my first send seems to have got lost. Second try. DW ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Alison Webster" <dwebster@glinx.com> To: <NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2013 9:16 AM Subject: Antlion larvae > Dear All, Aug 6, 2013 > I went out this afternoon to capture some antlion larvae from pits in > forest soil that had been only slightly sorted by water. So there were > lots of fine roots, assorted organic debris, pebbles etc in which the > larvae could hide after the fines were sifted through an 8' diam. 2-mm > sieve. > > And I nearly got skunked [found 3] because, as I gradually remembered > from having done this with more favourable soil in 1999, these things can > hide in plain sight. So finding one of these in a large handfull of coarse > debris resembles looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. > > To judge from my experience in Kentville, they favor recently > wind-sorted sand because being of uniform diameter it is very unstable > when dry. That is also the least difficult medium in which to find them > because almost everything will pass a 2-mm sieve. This habitat was > generated by gravel extraction and, so far as I know, obliterated by > further gravel extraction. > > If you get to the sand dunes of SW Port Mouton, or other wind-sorted > sand habitats, be on the watch for antlion funnels. Small insects that > stumble over the lip of an unstable sand funnel slide down to the middle > and become antlion fodder. > > Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville > >
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