Gregarious Antlion

Hagenomyia tristis · Order: Neuroptera · Family: Myrmeleontidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Gregarious Antlion
Photo: Nigel Voaden, CC BY

These ants are often seen swarming in shady, long-grass areas under trees. They occur from eastern South Africa across to Cameroon and Ethiopia, and also on Madagascar. The larvae dig sand pits to trap and eat small prey.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They commonly form swarms in long grass that is shaded by trees.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

They are thought to mimic Banyutus lethalis, and both species often swarm together.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Gregarious Antlion photo 3
Photo: Wynand Uys, CC BY

Same family (Myrmeleontidae)

Four-spotted antlionFour-spotted antlionDistoleon tetragrammicusSpotted-wing antlionSpotted-wing antlionEuroleon nostrasAnt-lionAnt-lionMyrmeleon formicariusGrand AntlionGrand AntlionPalpares libelluloidesBanyutus lethalisBanyutus lethalisBanyutus lethalisMottled Veld AntlionMottled Veld AntlionPalpares caffer

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagenomyia_tristis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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