Family Myrmeleontidae
South Africa is home to at least 125 species of antlions, ranging in size from 3 to 16cm wingspan in their adult stages and appearing nothing like the alien-looking larvae that trap unwary insects – usually ants, hence the name – in their delicately constructed pits.
Actually, only a few of the local antlion species use the conical pits we associate with this group of insects to capture their prey. Most species’ larvae are free-living in sand or leaf litter where they wait for a passing insect to ambush with a quick rush. The captured insect is injected with venom and enzymes and its insides are then sucked out. The larvae is superbly adapted to surviving long periods – months in fact – without food, and may take several years to mature. When ready to metamorphose antlion larvae spin themselves a cocoon in the sand and then dig themselves out as fully-formed adults about a month later. Adults are lazy flyers, almost seeming to struggle to keep airborne, are attracted to artificial lights at night, and rarely live for more than a month after their metamorphosis.
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