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Ant or Wasp? Or just plain mean?
This little guy stung my 6 year old here in Austin, TX. It’s approximately 1 cm long. When we first caught it, we could see what looks like a stinger at the end of its abdomen, but you can’t see that in the pictures. What makes me wonder if it’s a juvenile of something is that the abdomen has a distinct line where the exoskeleton ends and a soft, fuzzy part protrudes. Any help would be appreciated! (We’ve already had wasp swarms due to Japanese Beetles and a group of bees setting up housekeeping in our walls. I’d like to know what to be prepared for next!)
Thank you!
Kathy Blankenship
I totally forgot to add the weird part. When we caught this thing and were trying to take pictures of it, it made a very distinct buzzing sound.

Hi Kathy,
This is actually both an ant and a wasp. This insect is commonly known as a Velvet Ant, but in reality it is a flightless female wasp whose sting is very painful. The good news is they are solitary and do not exhibit social behavior.

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 26. sphaeropthalma pensylvanica. hope this helps a bit.

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