What creature has no mouth and no anus, yet lives as a predator? Certainly the most ferocious of the Small Five is the ant lion (Myrmeleontidae). This little creature makes use of a small V-shaped sandpit, in areas with soft sand, to trap its prey. It sucks the body juices from its captive with two massive pincers.

As the ant lion grows, it sheds its entire skin from time to time. Few people actually know that the “lion” is only the larval stage of a creature that looks like a dragonfly when it reaches maturity. The difference between a mature ant lion and a dragonfly or damselfly is that, unlike the dragonfly, the ant lion has antennae, can be seen at night, its wings arelonger than its body and they do not fold backwards to close.