The alderfly larva lives in still and slow-moving water and is carnivorous. Adults emerge in late spring and early summer. They are easy to recognise as the wing margins show no obvious forking of the veins, as is normal with others in this order and can be seen in the lacewing adult above. They are weak fliers and usually do not stray far from water, so can usually be found on waterside vegetation. They eat very little as adults - just a little pollen. The female lays her eggs in batches of 200 or more beside water or on vegetation overhanging still or slow moving water. When the eggs hatch the larvae crawl or drop into water. They pupate in the soil. They tend to overwinter as larva, and so the life cycle is around a year. There are about 100 species world wide, 3 in Europe and 2 in the UK.

On the left is an alderfly larva in the Sialidae family. If you put a finger or plant stalk near the front of an alderfly larva it will back away from it snapping its jaws. The adult alderfly on the right belongs to the Sialidae family.

Ant lions
The most remarkable feature of ant lions is the pit fall trap the larva constructs to capture its prey. Left is a Myrmeleon formicarius pit fall trap with just the jaws of the larva visible, and on the right is the fat, hairy larva. The larva constructs the trap in loose sand, and once the trap is dug it waits with just its jaws on the outside for an insect to fall to the bottom. The jaws are huge and perforated so the larva can inject digestive enzymes to soften the tissues, then suck the juices of its victims. The most common victims are ants. When an insect falls into the trap and slides down the sandy slope into its jaws it grabs it. If the victim puts up a fight the ant lion will either drag it under the sand or whack it against the side of the trap until it is subdued. Any victim falling into the trap and trying to get out will be bombarded with sand to try to make it lose its footing. The larva is a curious beast, it cannot walk forwards, but only backwards. Also it never emits any faeces until it is ready to emerge from its chrysalis which can be 1 - 2 years after hatching from the egg. Then it emits the accumulated faeces.

The ant lion adults resemble dragonflies, but have thicker, clubbed antennae. Adults are not strong fliers and tend to fly at night. Adults are also carnivorous, living off smaller insects that they find crawling over vegetation.

Its eggs are laid singly or in groups in dry, sandy soil.

There are 1000 species worldwide, in semi-arid areas. There are no native British species of ant lion.

The snakefly gets its name from its long neck and its method of catching prey, (usually soft-bodied insects) by raising its head and lunging. It is usually found in wooded areas, and in Britain it prefers pine and oak trees. Unusually, during mating the male is under the female. Females have a long ovipositor to lay their eggs in the crevices of bark on dead and decaying trees. The larvae feed on the grubs they find inside the tree. There are about 150 species world wide, and 4 in Britain.