doodlebug

A "doodlebug" is more than just a bug. Most often, it means the larva of an antlion, a small insect that digs cone-shaped pits in sandy soil to catch ants. Many children know it from those tiny traps in the dirt and from the wandering marks it leaves behind. The word also has a darker meaning from World War II, when the British used it as a nickname for German V-1 flying bombs because of their buzzing sound. In American English, it can also mean a small self-propelled railcar, and in some places it has been used for a children's guessing game or a tool used to search for water or oil.

The term "doodlebug" has a lively and surprisingly varied history. First and most commonly, it refers to the larva of an antlion, a predatory insect in the family Myrmeleontidae. These larvae live in loose sand or dry soil and dig neat cone-shaped pits to trap ants and other small insects. When prey slides down the slope, the larva may toss sand to make escape harder, then seize it at the bottom. The name likely comes from the wandering, doodle-like tracks the creature leaves as it moves through the sand.

But the word does not stay in the garden. During World War II, especially in Britain, "doodlebug" was a common nickname for the German V-1 flying bomb. People also called it a "buzz bomb" because of the sound of its engine. In transportation, the same word came to mean a small self-propelled railcar, often a gasoline-powered one, used on lighter or rural rail lines.

The word also reaches into folklore and play. In some regions, it names a children's guessing game in which someone traces a shape or letter on another person's back. It has also been used for a divining or dowsing tool, especially in talk about searching for water, minerals, or oil. So depending on the setting, "doodlebug" might point to a hidden insect in the sand, a feared weapon from wartime, a little railcar, or an old piece of folk language that survived by being memorable.