Timulla grotei
Finally! After you helped me identify the species of velvet ant that stung me one summer despite my poor photo, it has been my mission in life to get a better quality photo of Timulla grotei if you should want it. After many failed attempts at phographing this fast-moving wasp, I finally got a lady who was relatively still for my camera. She didn’t smile and insisted on waving those antennae, but here she is… and no stings this time.
Heather

Hi Heather,
While we are impressed with your determination, and honored that you felt it was important enough to provide What’s That Bug? with a sharper image, we think you have set too low a goal for your life’s mission. Now that this milestone has been accomplished, we are confident you will accomplish truly great things. Thanks again for providing us with a clear image of Timulla grotei from Tennessee.

Thought you might like this
I’ve attached a picture that we took of a "Cow-killer", aka "Velvet ant". Thought you might like it.
Stefan Bowers

hi Stefan,
We will happily post your photo, but we need to caution our readers not to mishandle this female Velvet Wasp as she can deliver a painful sting if provoked.

Velvet ant
Greetings, I am having trouble with the identification of this velvet ant. It loves to have a little mist along with it’s fruit nectar. So as you scroll down the hair gets drier in each photo. I believe it to be in the Dasymutilla family but can’t key it out with the books that I have at my disposal. Your help with the identification would be greatly appreciated. Neat little gal. Thanks for your help and great web site, sincerely,
Jerry Schudda
Tucson, Arizona

Hi Jerry,
We could not find a convincing match for your Velvet Ant on the BugGuide pages, though Dasymutilla coccineohirta looks close. Perhaps Eric Eaton will be able to assist us.

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 1. dasymutilla coccineohirta. hope this helps a bit.

Large red ant This time, with photo!
Hi
I found this ant crawling through my hallway and have tried unsuccessfully to identify it. Can you help? It is about 1/2 inch long. I thought it might be some type of carpenter ant; they are pretty common around here. This little guy has a very distinctive white stripe around his abdomen, though, and I couldn’t find anything similar in my bug books or online. Thank you!
Mandy
Cedar Hill, TX
p.s.: Sorry, I forgot to attach the photo the first time

Hi Mandy,
Though it looks like an ant, and is called a Velvet Ant, your insect is a flightless female wasp. Be careful, as she can deliver a very painful sting.

(12/08/2007) Large red ant
I’m sorry, but I don’t think so. I know what velvet ants look like, I have had them in my yard. (see attached photo) I know they are actually wingless wasps. They are much bigger, and much hairier than this bug. This guy is large for an ant, but only 1/2 inch. I know it looks large in the picture, but I had a hard time putting something next it for size contrast since it wouldn’t be still.
Mandy

Hi again Mandy,
We gave you a very general answer. Velvet Ants are a family of wasps, the females of which are generally brightly colored and flightless. The family is Mutillidae. Your original image might be in the genus Timulla, or the genus Pseudomethoca, or perhaps some other genus. We are not sure of the species. Your second photo is also a Velvet Ant, and this one is in the genus Dasymutilla. It appears to be a Cow Killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis, but the photo is too blurry to be certain. So both of your images are of Velvet Ants, but they are different species.

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. 3. sphaeropthalma pensylvanica.
image 4. could be either dasymutilla californica, coccineohirta, or vestita depending on local. hope this helps a bit. hope this helps a bit.

hairy insect
Hi there Bug folks!
I searched all over your website for a hairy insect like this one and didn’t see it anywhere. I found it at the top of a small mountain just yesterday (Sept 10th) in the Bay Area in California. It looks like a huge ant that needs a haircut! Please help me identify this bug. Love your website, this is my 2nd submission! Thanks,
Lyndie

Hi Lyndie,
What a wonderful photo of a Velvet Ant, Dasymutilla sackenii, a flightless female wasp with a painful sting.

Red Velvet Ant
Found these males leaving a hole in my garden floor.
Rick

Hi Rick,
We rarely get images of the male Cowkiller.

I did not give much information with the pictures. I live in Alexandria, Al. The pictures were taken July 25, 2007 around 1600 hrs. (4:00 PM). Yesterday, July 26, 2 females were in the grass near my garden. They move so fast it was hard to get a good picture. I will try to look at the ones I got this afternoon. I’ll gladly send them to you if you are interested.