labbbugs:

nanonaturalist:

ms-demeanor:

reguess1997:

brazenbotany:

Any bugblrs out there got a guess as to what this little guy is? He looks like a weird-ass, fuzzy, scarlet red ant, but hes about the size of a carpenter bee.

I saw him on a hike through the Zuni Pine Barrens/Blackwater Ecological Preserve in Zuni, Virginia.

Red velvet ant/ Cow killer wasp! And you can tell this one is female because it has no wings. (The male cow killers have wings, but no stinger)

They run pretty fast, but they don’t attack unless provoked

Just make sure if you’re in areas like this and you’re out with your pets that you keep a close eye on them because you don’t want them investigating a velvet ant too closely.

! Velvet Ants are So Interesting !

They’re not actually ants (they’re wasps), and the ladies can do a pretty good number on you with her stinger! Velvet ant females don’t have wings, which is how you can tell them apart from the stingless flying males (stingers are modified ovipositors, the tubes females lay eggs through–males can’t sting!). The females make up for not flying by being very fast, so it’s tough to get decent photos of them!

Some of the first couple I saw, not the best quality photos, but these ones were really interesting! On the left is Timulla suspensa, and on the right is Dasymutilla quadriguttata (and nope, they don’t have common names!).

Dasymutilla bioculata above (temporarily in a dish for photographing)

Unidentified Dasymutilla sp. A lot of these velvet ants look very similar and it can be hard to identify them from photographs [link to bugguide page for Dasymutilla].

I love velvet ants and they actually make really good pets!

Also I love the Zuni/Blackwater preserve! I did bat and bee surveys there last summer!

These lil things aren’t lethal to humans, but have an excruciating sting. Don’t grab or pet, no matter how fuzzy they look. If it looks like a giant, fuzzy ant, don’t touch it. Don’t touch anything that looks like an ant, but especially not these.