Do antlions bite humans?
If handled properly, antlions generally do not bite. Like any animal, however, an antlion might bite if it feels threatened or stressed. The editor was bitten once when he allowed an antlion larva to crawl on the back of his hand. (Perhaps the editor’s body hair alerted the antlion to its mammalian captor.) The injected poison caused a sharp burning sensation that lasted for several minutes after the antlion was shaken off, but it had no long-term effects. If you do handle an antlion with bare hands, stretch open your palm widely, creating a taut, flat surface with no skin folds for the antlion to grasp. If the antlion wanders toward the edge of your palm, transfer it gently to your other palm. Be sure to keep a thin layer of sand in your palm(s) to fool the antlion into thinking it is still on the ground. When you are finished, return the antlion to its home by holding your hand near the ground and angling it so that the creature falls gently to the sand. To prevent injury to the antl
