Antlion, also spelled ant-lion and ant lion, is a name applied to a group of about 2,000 species of insects in the family Myrmeleontidae (sometimes misspelled as "Myrmeleonidae"). The most well-known genus is Myrmeleon ("antlion"). Strictly speaking, the term "antlion" applies to the larval form of the members of this family, but while several languages have their own terms for the adult, there is no widely used word for them in English. Very rarely, the adults are called "antlion lacewings".
The length of a fully-grown well-nourished predatory larva is typically up to 1.2 cm, and that of an adult up to 4 cm.
The antlion larva is often called "doodlebug" in North America because of the odd winding, spiralling trails it leaves in the sand while looking for a good location to build its trap, as these trails look as if someone has doodled in the sand
Location: Suffolk
Photographer: B Williams