Antlion

 Old-gen console and 3DS
Exclusive Variant

Albino Antlion

Statistics

Type	Enemy
Damage	10 (ranged) 10 (melee)
Max Life	45
Defense	6
Banner	Albino Antlion Banner

Drops

Coins	60

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Antlion Mandible
  14.29%

• Internal NPC ID: 1001

Antlion

 Classic

 Expert

 Master

Statistics

Type	Enemy
Environment	Desert Underground Desert
AI Type	Antlion AI
Damage	10/20›36›54/30›54›81
Max Life	45/90›198›296/135›297›444
Defense	6/6›12›18
KB Resist	100%
Banner	Antlion Banner
Immune to

Drops

Coins	60Pre-Hardmode: 150Hardmode: 240Post-Plantera: 360

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Antlion Mandible (1–2
  1 )
  33.3%
  14.29%
• Banana Split
  2%

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Attack

• Internal NPC ID: 69

The Antlion is an enemy found in Deserts during the day and in Underground Deserts. It remains stationary with its head sticking out of the ground, and will shoot sand projectiles at the player every 3.33 seconds when they are in its line of sight. It can only launch its projectile at an upwards angle (within about 45 degrees to the left and right), so players approaching from lower ground are usually out of its line of fire. The sand projectiles turn into clumps of Sand Blocks when hitting an object, and will gather on the ground, similarly to the projectiles fired by the Sandgun.

On the  Old-gen console version and Nintendo 3DS version, the Albino Antlion variant also appears.

Notes

• Because the Antlion creates Sand Blocks as it attacks, sand is a renewable resource, although one renewed slowly.
• If faced with an incline facing directly upward, Antlions will climb very slowly toward the player. This happens on all versions, and prevents them from burying themselves.
• The Antlion's head is the only part that takes/deals damage. Thus, arrows or bullets aimed at its body will fly through. Likewise, a player that touches the Antlion's body will not take damage.

Trivia

• The Antlion is based on real-life antlion larvae, which dig sand pits as traps for other insects. The antlion will throw sand at escaping prey, causing its victims to tumble down into the center of the pit where the hungry antlion is waiting. When the larvae grow up, they resemble the Antlion Swarmer.
  • Due to the large presence of Antlion enemies in the Underground Desert and its funnel-like entry point, it could be assumed that the Underground Desert is in fact a large Antlion nest.
• The NPC ID image contains only the head. The body is stored not by an ID, but rather by its name, AntlionBody.xnb.
• The projectiles the Antlion shoots can damage other enemies, not just the player.
• Antlion is commonly mispronounced as antillion, when, since it is based on the insect, it can be assumed that one would pronounce it the same as the insect – ant-lion.
• This is one of only two or three creatures besides the player that can place blocks in the world, the others being the Snow Balla and, debatably, the Wall of Flesh.
• The Albino Antlion is the only exclusive variant of an enemy that has the exact same stats and drops as the original enemy (apart from the Banner).

• The Bestiary entry for the Antlion: "When antlions are nesting, they hide in the surface. To defend their eggs, they projectile vomit hard globs of sand at trespassers."

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Now has a chance to drop Banana Split.
  • Fixed an issue where stray Antlion sand balls would land in the Dungeon and prevent Cultists from spawning.
  • Fixed an issue where Antlions would spawn anywhere, if the background was sandstone.

• Desktop 1.3.5: Sprite updated.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • May now drop up to two Antlion Mandibles.
  • Sprite updated.
  • Now has new sound effects.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3: Can now drop its respective banner.

• Desktop 1.1:
  • Chance of dropping Antlion Mandible increased from 10*1/10 (10%) to 14.29*1/7 (14.29%).
  • Projectile damage reduced from 20 to 10.

• Desktop 1.0.5: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.0.933.1: Added new sounds from Desktop 1.3.0.1. Removed Albino Antlion. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: Added new sounds from Desktop 1.3.0.1. Removed Albino Antlion. ()

• Console-Release: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.3.0.7: Removed Albino variant.

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.