11:39am: A2: no sign of the 3 pits that were present 4/28.
5:04pm: 1719: A1 one pit at S end.
10:08pm: 1725: 2 pits
10:10pm: 1727 A1 4 pits marked.

Afternoon winds 10-16 mph has littered the ground w/ maple seeds (whirligigs).
1713: pan of A1

1704 12:51pm: A1 has four pits, marked in photo

I plan to monitor pit numbers/locations in A1 using a 10” x 24” grid that I made out of 1/2” and 3/4” PVC and fine florist wire. I will lay grid over the pits by slipping two of the grid’s short legs over garden stakes for placement. The grid stands several inches off the ground and doesn’t disturb the pits.

1705, 06: grid in place.

A1 and A2 both have 3 pits.

Saw first antlion pits of 2021 in soil by garage door. This is Area 1 (A1). Is about 20” deep x 48” long (runs along the driveway, north and south). This space is open to the west, source of most wind and storms) and it has a burning bush shrub. These pits are subject to wind-blown debris: fir needles, maple seeds in spring, and fallen leaves.

There are also two pits in soil around the corner from A1, on the other side of the ground-level horizontal downspout. This is area 2 (A2). The garage wall and an overhead eave shelters this plot of soil from most wind and storms, rain and debris.

In Sept. 2020 I discovered several ant lion pits in a patch of black soil that surrounds a burning bush in front of our garage. It was my first siting of antlions in the USA since I first read about them in the Golden Guide to Insects as a teen in the 1960s. I’d first observed the pits some 10 years ago in Zimbabwe along a dusty path at a rural hospital, and that was exciting. Believe me when I say I was surprised and delighted to discover them along my driveway in Columbus, Ohio. And they are back again this year, first appearing as three delicate pits in late March.

At the same time, I find their pits only in this one 2’ x 4’ patch of black soil under or near the burning bush and in a small adjoining patch around the corner of the garage. The front patch has a southern exposure protected by the bush and an overhanging eave; the second small patch is protected from western weather by the garage wall and a small eave. Wind and severe weather usually come from the west. I have searched other finer-grained soil on our grounds for signs of pits but have found no others. It seems the larvae are limited to these two small patches, which means I could lose them at any time.

The two sites are readily accessible. I hope to watch and learn over the course of the 2021 insect season and describe my observations in these Antlions Diaries. I have kept a notebook of observations and will enter them below. I don't know whether journal entries can include photos (or how to add them) but I will refer to the photos I have taken using the four-digit number my phone camera assigns them.