Common Antlion
Myrmeleon formicarius
The common antlion (Myrmeleon formicarius) is the most widespread European member of the lacewing order (Neuroptera) and the family Myrmeleontidae. The adult insect closely resembles a damselfly, featuring a slender, brownish-black body about 35 mm long and two pairs of glassy, transparent wings spanning 66–83 mm. Unlike dragonflies, it possesses short, clubbed antennae and flies slowly, mainly at dusk and night. This species inhabits dry, sandy environments such as pine forest edges, dunes, and sunny sandbanks. It is best known for its stout, grayish-brown larva (around 12 mm long), which digs funnel-shaped pitfall traps in loose sand. Buried at the bottom, the larva ambushes ants and other small invertebrates, flicking sand grains at escaping prey before seizing them with massive, hollow mandibles to suck out their fluids.