Curiosity Corner – Doodlebugs

Curiosity Corner

By Dr. Jerry D. Wilson,

Emeritus Professor of Physics, Lander University

A column reader sent me a letter about a comment I made in a recent Yankee Doodle article… and something to do about a doodlebug. She said as a small girl she would call the doodlebugto come out of his house (it was on fire), and a little later the earth would open up and the doodlebug would appear. Well, I was never into doodlebugs, but remember telling a ladybug to fly away—her house was on fire, and her children would burn.

In any case, I remember an article on doodlebugs some time ago and thought I’d run it again to refresh the doodlers’ memory:

Question: What are doodlebugs and can you call them out of the ground?

Reply: Well, I’ve heard of a hay doodle, and I’ve done a lot of doodling. (Dictionary reference: to draw or scribble idly, or to waste (time) in aimless or foolish activity.) However, I was not familiar with doodlebugs, so I did some researching. I believe we are talking about the antlion (sometimes spelled ant lion), which is colloquially referred to as a “doodlebug.” The larva evacuates a funnel-shaped pit in sandy soil by crawling backwards in circles. The slope of the funnel is adjusted so that the sides readily give way under the feet of a would-be prey, and the doodlebug waits at the bottom of the pit, about one inch deep.

Crawling insects, particularly ants, inadvertently fall into the pit, and they are not able to climb the loose sand on the steep walls that give way under their feet. Down they go, and the doodlebug makes quick work of them with its sickle-like jaws. This is perhaps why they are called ant lions. The sand hole resembles an anthill somewhat, and Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke compared certain craters on the Moon to antlion pits. He is recorded as saying, “Doodlebug, doodlebug, are you at home?”

The larvae remain in the sand pits, and eventually mature in to winged insects, resembling a miniaturized version of a dragonfly. However, while in the pit, folklore has it that the antlion can be called out of its hole in the ground. A straw from a kitchen broom may be put down the hole to assist the coming out. I was told by a person living where there were a lot of doodlebug holes that they could be coaxed out by saying, “Doodlebug, doodlebug come blow your horn, the sheep and cows are in the corn.” There are other verses, such as “Doodlebug, doodlebug, come up and…. get some bread and butter…. get a barrel of sugar…. get a chew of tobacco.”

Doodlebugs can also be found in literature. In Mark Twain’s 1897 novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom was having a perplexing problem, and “… he searched around until he found a small sandy spot with a little funnel-shaped depression in it. He laid himself down and put his mouth close to this depression and called, ‘Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know!’ The sand began to work and presently a small black bug appeared for a second and then darted under again in fright. ‘Hedasn’t tell! So it was a witch that done it. I just knowed it.’”

So, can you coax a doodlebug out of its hole? I don’t know. In a case like this, one must apply the scientific method. Try for yourself and see! I will do so the next time I come upon a doodlebug hole. (Got out of that one pretty good, didn’t I?)

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): “At another year I would not boggle. Except that when I jog I joggle.” -Odgen Nash

(Picture added from friendsofbib.com)

Curious about something? Email your questions to Dr. Jerry Wilson at curiosity.corner@yahoo.com. Selected questions will appear in the Curiosity Corner.