ant lion

American  

Or antlion

noun

1. any of several insects belonging to the family Myrmeleontidae, of the order Neuroptera, the larvae of which dig a pit in sand where they lie in wait to prey upon ants or other insects that lose their footing.

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Etymology

Origin of ant lion

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

At night, he and other graduate students and field investigators would “mess with ant lions” by tossing ants into the pits.

From New York Times

We used to watch the ants, too, and I regret 81 to say that we used to feed them to the ant lions.

From Project Gutenberg

An ant lion will dig an entrapment, then hiding behind a blind, await the unwary.

From Project Gutenberg

There! it has succeeded in making the poor ant slip; down it goes, and now the ant lion has seized it and dragged it down under the ground.

From Project Gutenberg

He told me also the story of the ant lion—a big beetle that lives in the jungles of the grain and the grass—of which I remember only an outline, more or less imperfect.

From Project Gutenberg