As the name implies, the Antlion larvae are voracious and cunning predators of ants…and anything else that might fall into their pit-traps. While the adults, sometimes called “Antlion Lacewings”, are delicate slender flyers often mistaken for Damselflies, the larvae are stealthy hunters in the sandy undergrowth. They create cone-shaped pits by flinging material out until the angle of repose is just right for preventing unwitting passersby from escaping. Once a prey item is caught it is injected with a cocktail of venom and enzymes and then slurped of its juices.
