Pit-trap-predator
Guides
Dendroleon obsoletus
Eastern Spotted-winged Antlion, Spotted-winged Antlion
Dendroleon obsoletus, commonly known as the Eastern Spotted-winged Antlion, is a species of antlion in the family Myrmeleontidae. Adults are distinguished by spotted wing patterns. The species occurs across North America, with larvae inhabiting sandy soils beneath rock ledges and other sheltered areas where they construct pit traps to capture prey.
Eremoleon
Eremoleon is a genus of antlions in the family Myrmeleontidae, established by Nathan Banks in 1901. The genus contains approximately 36 species distributed from the southern United States through Central America. As with other antlions, larvae are predatory and construct pit traps in sandy substrates to capture prey.
Myrmeleon mobilis
Myrmeleon mobilis is a pit-making antlion species in the family Myrmeleontidae. The larva constructs conical pits in sandy substrate to trap small ground-dwelling arthropods, using a unique discontinuous gut physiology where solid waste is retained until adulthood. A 2005 microbiological study identified its bacterial associates as primarily Proteobacteria, including Wolbachia-like organisms in non-gut tissues and Enterobacteriaceae-like bacteria in the gut. The species is recorded from North America.
Myrmeleontini
Pit-trapping Antlions
Myrmeleontini is a tribe of antlions within the subfamily Myrmeleontinae, comprising approximately 12 genera including Myrmeleon, Euroleon, and Baliga. The tribe is distinguished by pit-trapping predatory behavior in larval stages, where larvae construct conical pits in loose substrate to capture prey. Adults are aerial predators with elongated bodies and large, transparent wings. The group has a broad geographic distribution spanning Europe, Asia, and Australia.