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Family Myrmeleontidae - Antlions & Owlflies

Antlion - Dendroleon obsoletus unknown - Myrmeleon Unknon insect - Ululodes Glenarus Gratus - Glenurus gratus Antlion Help, Please? - Myrmeleon immaculatus Glenurini Tribe; Euptilon or Purenleon? - Euptilon Female, Ululodes bicolor? - Ululodes bicolor Probably an antlion - what type? - Vella fallax - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Neuroptera (Antlions, Lacewings, and Allies)
Suborder Myrmeleontiformia (Antlions and Allies)
Family Myrmeleontidae (Antlions & Owlflies)
Other Common Names
Doodlebugs (larvae, esp. Myrmeleon)
Pronunciation
meer-mih-lee-ON-tih-dee
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
see (1)
Explanation of Names
Myrmeleontidae Latreille 1802
Numbers
~100 spp. in 22 genera in our area(2)(3), ~2400 spp. total
Size
adult body 40‒80 mm
Identification
Most of the typical antlions have antennae that are fairly short (about the length of the head and thorax combined) and either clubbed or curved (somewhat like a field hockey stick).

Owlflies are a specialized group with longer, strongly clubbed antennae and bulging eyes.

keys in (4)
Food
Larvae are voracious predators that lie in wait for their insect prey, though different genera have different modes of predation. Myrmeleon spp. (often known as "doodlebugs") are most frequently noticed and are the only genus in our area to dig a shallow, funnel-shaped pit in loose sand to trap prey. Members of some other genera such as Glenurus and Dendroleon aren't even found in the sand and instead live in tree holes as ambush predators.(5)
Remarks
adults mostly nocturnal or crepuscular and may come to lights
See Also
Dobsonflies have tapered antennae, bigger heads and jawsFishflies have serrate or pectinate antennae
Works Cited
1.Owlflies are derived antlions: anchored phylogenomics supports a new phylogeny and classification of Myrmeleontidae (Neuroptera)
Machado R.J.P., Gillung J.P., Winterton S.L., Garzón-Orduña I.J., Lemmon A.R., Lemmon E.M., Oswald J.D. 2018. Sys. Entomol. 44: 418–450.
2.Species catalog of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera, and Raphidioptera of America North of Mexico
Penny N.D., Adams P.A., Stange L.A. 1997. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 50: 39‒114.
3.Antlions of Hispaniola (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)
R.B. Miller, L.A. Stange. 2011. Insecta Mundi 0182: 1-28.
4.Revision of the Nearctic Myrmeleonidae
Nathan Banks. 1927. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Vol. 68, No. 1: 1-84.
5.The ant-lions of Florida. II. Genera based on larvae (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)
Lionel A. Stange. 1980. Entomology Circular No. 221.