How long will my ant lion live? What is the life cycle of an ant lion?
Ant Lion larva have been known to live anywhere from one to three years. Then they cocoon themselves for about a month, and emerge as a winged adult ant lion. When they do cocoon, it is a good idea to use netting so that the adult won’t escape — it will almost certainly emerge from its cocoon when you’re not watching. A stick placed upright in the sand will provide the newly emerged adult with a place to rest while its wings expand and harden properly. Ideally, the adult antlion should be returned outside within a day after emerging from the cocoon. If held captive any longer, it will lose energy and may die. The adult ant lion lives from 30 to 45 days. Here is more info on hatching ant lions. Because of the difficulty of telling the age of an Ant Lion, we cannot guarantee how long your Ant Lions will live.
