Nutrition
Myrmeleon immaculatus is a sit-and-wait predator. The larvae dig cone-shaped pits in the sand and lie buried at the bottom, waiting for an insect, preferably an ant. The caving sand prevents prey form escaping the Antlion larva. Ingestion is accomplished by the injection of digestive enzymes from the midgut into the prey. After several minutes, the insides of the prey are sucked out. Interestingly enough the gastric juices are not mixed with the contents of the crop or midgut. Instead, they are separated from the space between the peritrophic membrane and the epithelium of the midgut. (Resh and Ring 2003)
They mainly prey on arthropods where their main source of food in dry and sandy areas is ants but they have also been known to eat; spiders, beetles, isopods, flies, caterpillars, wasps, and mites. (Marshall 2006)