Wormlions

The Brachyceran family Vermileonidae (the sole family in the infraorder Vermileonomorpha) is a small fly family of uncertain affinities and unusual biology. It includes fewer than 80 described species, most of them rare and with restricted distribution, in 11 genera. Historically the vermileonids had been regarded as belonging to the family Rhagionidae, possibly in a subfamily Vermileoninae. Their biology and morphology are so markedly distinct from the main Rhagionidae sensu stricto however, that the placement as a separate family has been widely accepted. They are called wormlions, in analogy to antlions, as their worm-like larvae make pits in the sand to trap prey.