Awesome Animal Fact - Hungry Sarlacc?

Did you know there is a real predator that feeds just like the terrifying sarlacc from the Star Wars movie The Return of the Jedi? The fictional sarlacc burrows in the sand, creating a cone-shaped pit, then it waits, buried, at the bottom of the pit for prey animals to fall in and slide down the slope. Then it grabs the prey and pulls it under the sand.

Well, this perfectly describes the feeding habits of an antlion larva. If you live in the midwest or eastern United States, you have probably seen the little cone-shaped pits antlions make.

These antlion traps are very effective for trapping ants. If an ant walks over the side, it will slide down to the bottom. The antlion, buried beneath the sand at the bottom, will flick loose sand up onto the sides of the cone, thus making it even harder for the ant to climb out. Then the antlion grabs the ant with its huge jaws. These jaws are hollow, and they suck the fluids out of the ant. Below is a miniature sarlacc... oops, I mean an antlion larva.