They’re a family within the order Neuroptera – net-winged insects. I first encountered them in the dirt either in my backyard or perhaps on my elementary school yard when I was a child. I became aware of them in their nymph stage.
These little nymphs were voracious. They formed little funnels in the dirt. The funnel walls were unstable, and any small creature (an ant, for instance) that tried to cross such a funnel suddenly found itself at the neck of the funnel unable to escape. As it struggled to escape, the resulting micro-vibrations in the dirt alerted the nymph to the presence of a morsel, and the nymph emerged from the bottom of the funnel to pull the ant into ground below where it was devoured. Nice.
We called these little dirt devils antlions. In those days of my childhood, I thought that they would eventually become damselflies. I may have read that somewhere, but that is not correct. They become lacewing insects – most often seen at dusk around here.
The last winter freeze killed some ground cover near our carport, and I recently noticed dozens of antlion funnels. They look like this:
The little critters look vaguely like the sand lifeforms of Ceti Alpha 5 in Star Trek The Wrath of Kahn – nasty little buggers. In reality the antlions and the mature lacewings are completely innocuous.
Keep an eye out for them if you are a nature watcher.