to convey substantial survival benefits to the larvae. Evolution The closest living relatives of antlions within the Myrmeleontoidea are the owlflies (Ascalaphidae); the Nymphidae are more distantly related. The extinct Araripeneuridae and Babinskaiidae are considered likely to be stem groups in the Myrmeleontiformia clade. The phylogeny of the Neuroptera has been explored using mitochondrial DNA sequences, and while issues remain for the group as a whole (the "Hemerobiiformia" being paraphyletic), the Myrmeleontiformia is generally agreed to be monophyletic, giving the following cladogram: The subfamilies are shown below; a few genera, mostly fossil, are of uncertain or basal position. The fossil record of antlions is very small by neuropteran standards. However, some Mesozoic fossils attest to the antlions' origin more than 150 million years ago. These were at one time separated as the Palaeoleontidae, but are now usually recognized as early antlions. There is little consensus regarding the supra-generic classification within the Myrmeleontidae, but the following four subfamilies (with select genera) are accepted by many researchers: Acanthaclisinae Centroclisis Myrmeleontinae Bankisus Navás, 1912 Dendroleon Euroleon Esben-Petersen, 1918 Euroleon nostras (European antlion) Glenoleon Banks, 1913 Glenoleon falsus Glenoleon pulchellus Australia Hagenomyia Hagenomyia tristis Africa Menkeleon Palparinae (including Araripeneurinae) Palpares Stilbopteryginae Stilbopteryx The following subfamilies have been recognized by some taxonomists: Brachynemurinae (otherwise in Myrmeleontinae) Dendroleontinae (otherwise in Myrmeleontinae) Dimarinae Echthromyrmicinae Glenurinae Myrmecaelurinae (otherwise in Myrmeleontinae) Nemoleontinae (otherwise in Myrmeleontinae) Pseudimarinae Antlions of uncertain systematic position are: Palaeoleon (fossil) Porrerus Samsonileon In culture and folklore In popular folklore in the southern United States, people recite a poem or chant to make the antlion come out of its hole. Similar practices have been recorded from Africa, the Caribbean, China and Australia. The Myrmecoleon was a mythical ant–lion hybrid written about in the 2nd century AD Physiologus, where animal descriptions were paired with Christian morals. The ant-lion as described was said to starve to death because of its dual nature – the lion nature of the father could only eat meat, but the ant half from the mother could only eat grain chaff, thus the offspring could not eat either and would starve. It was paired with the Biblical verse Matthew 5:37. The fictional ant-lion of Physiologus is probably derived from a misreading of Job 4:11. The French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre wrote that "The Ant-lion makes a slanting funnel in the sand. Its victim, the Ant, slides down the slant and is then stoned, from the