Antlions

Family Myrmeliontidae

Dendreleon obsoletum. Photo:Stephanie Boucher

Antlions are better known as larvae. The larvae hide themselves in the bottom of a small conical pit, made in sand or dust, and wait with their long mandibles open for small insects to fall into the pit. When an insect falls to the bottom of the pit the antlion captures it and sucks out its body fluids. Adult antlions resemble damselflies but have clubbed antennae and different wing venation. The wings are clear in some species and irregularly spotted in others.