Saturday, June 4, 2011

Velvet Ant

Spotted this little guy while photographing markers at Mt. Sherman Cemetery. 
Red Velvet Ant or Cow Killer
They are actually wingless wasps, not ants and have a very painful sting. Females are wingless and covered with dense hair, superficially resembling ants. The red velvet-ant is the largest velvet-ant species, reaching about 3/4 inch in length. They are black overall with patches of dense orange-red hair on the thorax and abdomen. Males are similar but have wings and can not sting.

3 comments:

  1. whoa...scary. i'm terrified of ants. even though it's actually a wasp i wouldn't want to meet one of these.

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  2. I've seen these little buggers before. Like most things of the 8-legged nature...they creep me out! LOL Nice photo though! ;)

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  3. I just smashed one near my shed tonight. I've seen a few over the years.

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