Adults bear a general resemblance to dragonflies with short knobbed antennae. Ant lions make pits in sandy soil about the diameter of a silver dollar. Perhaps you have seen them in your yard. Mine are underneath the strawberry tree on the south side of the house. Ant lions lie with fearsome pinchers just showing in the sandy bottom of the pit, waiting patiently for an ant to stumble in.
Ant lions are sensitive to vibrations and make quick work of foolish ants.
Ants are grasped by the pinchers, immobilized by a secretion, predigested, then sucked dry. In case you are worried about your child or pet, ant lions are measured in millimeters. Not only is parent material eroded to form soil, but wind and water erodes soil away. Unfortunately soil is disappearing faster than it is being formed. The loss of top soil is an ecological and economic disaster of major proportions.