Any idea what this insect is? I thought it looked so peculiar i wanted to ask and find out :')

helps to know where you live, different parts of the world have different critters!

Some sort of antlion? I've never seen one IRL but we get a few requests for IDs here, so I've seen pictures.

Looks like an adult ant lion to me. It's holding its abdomen in an unusual position, I have no idea why.
They have an interesting life cycle. Larva dig little pits and eat ants that fall in. I see the pits a whole lot more than I see the adults. I think the adults are relatively short-lived and largely nocturnal.

Looks like an Owlfly, Large bulging eyes almost like a dragon-fly eyes, but with strongly knobbed antennae. They are related to the Myrmeleontidae the Ant-lion family, both adult and larvae can look similar in both family.
Some species (most Ululodes, but also other genera) has raised abdomen at rest, (presumably mimicking a broken twig, for camouflage).
For example; image of https://www.marylandbiodiversi...

Tofi how interesting. An owl fly. Thanks for the ID I have those around the pond and always thought they were an odd type of dragon fly.