What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Not Thistledown Velvet Ant

Posted by June 6th, 2005 at 12:00 am

Categories

Velvet Ants

cool site!
Very interesting site. I have a couple of bugs I can’t identify. Both from Southern California. I appreciate any help you can give me.
Ron Drake

Hi Ron,
Your photos of the Thistledown Velvet Ant or Gray Velvet Ant, Dasymutilla gloriosa, are very nice. She is a female flightless wasp and can deliver a painful sting.

Ed. Note Update: (12/02/2005)
ID corrections, etc. I’ve just discovered your excellent site (directed there by “This is True”), and as a hymenopterist have a few comments: All of the “thistledown velvet ants” shown are actually Dasymutilla nocturna, not Dasymutilla gloriosa. The latter has the erect hairs somewhat sparser and more “untidy”, the body is a reddish brown, not black, and all the hairs are whitish (no black hairs), so the legs look whitish.
I hope these comments are useful.
Denis

Update: (04/02/2008) ID for insects
Hey, my name is Will, this is a list of the ID’s for the velvet ant page. image 37. Dasymutilla sackeni, D. nocturna restricted. hope this helps a bit.

Related Posts

  1. Not Thistledown Velvet Ant (April 29, 2005)
  2. Unknown Velvet Ant from Arizona (April 1, 2008)
  3. Sacken’s Velvet Ant (July 1, 2007)
  4. Not Thistledown Velvet Ant (August 29, 2005)
  5. Velvet Ant (June 28, 2005)

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.