Diet

• Larvae: Carnivorous, feeding primarily on ants, as well as beetles, termites, spiders, and other small arthropods. Most species excavate conical pitfall traps in loose sand and wait at the bottom for prey to slide in.

• Adults: Feed on small flying insects, including flies, moths, mosquitoes, and other soft-bodied insects. Some adult species feed very little and live only long enough to reproduce.

Range

• The genus Myrmeleon is distributed throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

• In the Americas, species occur from southern Canada through the United States, Mexico, Central America, and into South America.

• Several species occur in Mexico, including along the Pacific coast of Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region, wherever suitable sandy habitats are available.

Habitat

• Larvae inhabit dry, sandy soils beneath rock overhangs, under buildings, in caves, along trails, beneath trees, and in other sheltered locations protected from heavy rain.

• Adults are found in tropical dry forests, woodlands, grasslands, scrub, forest edges, and gardens, where they rest on vegetation or tree trunks during the day and fly mainly at dusk and night.

Size

• Larva: 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in)

• Adult body length: 20–35 mm (0.8–1.4 in)

• Wingspan: 50–80 mm (2.0–3.1 in)