Timulla Grotei? Velvet Ant of some type?
Location: Seminole, Oklahoma
July 24, 2010 6:00 pm
I think I’ve identified this properly! I found this little lady (?) on some leaves in central Oklahoma (Seminole). It was about 1/2-3/4” long and a little hairy. Love your site!
Amy Goodman
Velvet Ant
Hi Amy,
You did an excellent job of identifying your Velvet Ant, though we would caution taking the identification to the species level. We looked at the specimens of Timulla grotei posted to BugGuide, and though they look similar to your specimen, the abdominal markings seem different. There are many similar looking species in the genus Timulla posted to BugGuide. One image in particular, also from Oklahoma, is only identified to the genus level, and that image more closely resembles your gal, though the legs are differently colored. YOur photos are excellent and perhaps an expert in Velvet Ants will be able to provide a species identification.
Velvet Ant
¶ Posted 25 July 2010 § ‡ ° Unknown ant-like insect
July 16, 2010
Location: Virginia
Okay, out in my yard today in Virginia, I encountered a bug I’ve never seen in my life. It’s mostly shaped like an ant, only massive like the size of a bee or such. It’s a deep, bright red with a couple black stripes across its abdomen and appears to have a somewhat velvety texture (though I didn’t touch it to make sure). It does not possess any wings. Normally, I’d just let it go but I have two small nephews staying with me right now and don’t want any harm to come to them.
Deimos
Cow Killer
Hi Deimos,
Congratulations on being the first person to use our brand new form. We hope our readership likes our new form and that it makes submitting identification requests easier. Your insect is a Velvet Ant known as a Cow Killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis. We hope you heeded the warning colors, because Velvet Ants are actually flightless female wasps that can sting. The common name Cow Killer refers to the sting being so painful it might kill a cow. Though the sting could not kill a cow, it is none the less reported to be quite painful.
22
¶ Posted 16 July 2010 § ‡ ° Is it an ant? Thistledown velvet ant?
April 18, 2010
Hi Bugman, thanks for this website! I found a strange insect in Baja California (Cabo Pulmo) and i think that he may be an ant. He was alone between stones. His abdomen mouved a little (up and down). One centimeter long. He looks like other pictures of “Thistledown Velvet Ant”. Can you tell me if i’m right?
What a strange and beautiful animal!!!
Sorry for my poor english, i’m french.
Have a good day
Niea
Baja California Sur
Thistledown Velvet Ant
Dear Niea,
Please do not apologize for your English, which is better than that of many native speakers. Your identification is correct. This is a Thistledown Velvet Ant, Dasymutilla gloriosa, and you may read more about this species on BugGuide. There are some inaccuracies in your letter. A Velvet Ant is not a true ant, but instead, a flightless female wasp. He is actually a she. The pain associated with the sting of a Velvet Ant is reported to be severe.
¶ Posted 18 April 2010 § ‡ ° Velvet ant in the napkin drawer?
April 10, 2010
Hello again,
I was very, very surprised to find this little guy hanging out in our napkin drawer today. There isn’t any food (or theoretically other prey insects) in the drawer, it’s middle in height, and we haven’t brought in any plants to that room recently, so how she got there is a mystery. And a potentially disturbing one if I am right in my assumption that she’s a velvet ant/cow killer. Is that what it is, or is there something else which might have a better reason for being there? I was sorely tempted to squish it for fear of its sting, especially if it’s getting into such unsuspecting places, but I let it go instead (as pictured).
Stephen C
North Carolina
Velvet Ant
Dear Stephen,
We are not even going to attempt to speculate how this Velvet Ant got into your napkin drawer, but you did correctly identify it. It is not a Cow Killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis. Based on photos posted to BugGuide, in our mind it most resembles Dasymutilla vesta, which has no common name but the general family name of Velvet Ant. We are certain she is much better off released than she was in your napkin drawer.
Velvet Ant
¶ Posted 11 April 2010 § ‡ ° aussietrev Black Velvet Ant
February 16, 2010
Hi guys,
Congratulations on being near the end with the book project. It has been hot and very wet around this way and over the last couple of days I have come across several of these male wasps hunting around in the sandy soil. There has been some females too but they don’t like the camera getting close.
As an aside, I noticed the letter about the light and the funnel. One method of trapping insects is to bury a bottle with a funnel so that the lip of the funnel is at ground level. A light is suspended above it and ground dwellers walk to the light and fall into the funnel. Hope that sheds some light on it 
aussietrev
Burnett region. Queensland. Australia
Velvet Ant
Hi Trevor,
Welcome back. We have missed getting submissions from you. Your letter is a tad bit confusing. You talk about the male wasps hunting, and the females not letting the camera get close, yet you have submitted an image of a female. The female Velvet Ants are wingless and the males have wings. The Brisbane Insect website has photos posted that look very similar to your image, but alas, they have only identified it to the family level of Mutillidae. Another page on the Brisbane Insect website indicates that most species in Australia are in the genus Ephutomorpha, but that same page labels some wingless individuals as being male. The What Bug Is That? guide to Australian insects has a nice description of Velvet Ants.
Ant, white fur
January 5, 2010
Found these ants on the beach of Nopolo about 5 miles south of Loreto. About 1/2 inch in lenght brillant white fur in the sun light.
they appeared to be bits of white fluff blowing in the breeze.
one of them bit me and it hurt like heck
Kevin Kirkman
Loreto Baja Sur California, Mexico
Thistledown Velvet Ant
Dear Kevin,
We are very excited to have a new species of Velvet Ant for our website. This appears to be a Thistledown Velvet Ant, Dasymutilla gloriosa. Velvet Ants are actually flightless female wasps, and they can produce a painful sting. We suspect you were stung and not bitten. According to BugGuide: “Female lays eggs in burrows of sand-wasps, such as Bembix. The larvae feed on larvae of the wasp and the food provided by the adult wasps. Pupation occurs in larval chambers of host.“ Back in 2005, we received the following correction for some Thistledown Velvet Ant images we erroneously identified: “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“ Your Velvet Ants have erect sparse hairs and white legs, so we are relatively confident we are correct this time in saying they are Thistledown Velvet Ants.
Thistledown Velvet Ants
Thanks for the info, interesting these are wasps not ants, they look like ants, I have more pictures if you want them just send me a email address to send them to, my thumb is still aching a day after being stung
KK
Thistledown Velvet Ant
Hi again Kevin,
Thanks for sending additional images of these wonderful Thistledown Velvet Ants in their natural habitat.
Thistledown Velvet Ant
¶ Posted 06 January 2010 § ‡ ° Black and Orange Fuzzy Butt Bug
November 13, 2009
I saw this bug today, while hiking at Lake Pleasant (Arizona), it was walking very quickly on the ground. I only had a chance to get one photo.
Hundewanderer
Lake Pleasant, Arizona
Velvet Ant
Hi Hundewanderer,
This is a Velvet Ant, a flightless female wasp in the genus Dasymutilla. We believe, based on the location and on photos posted to BugGuide, that this might be Dasymutilla magnifica.
¶ Posted 14 November 2009 § ‡ ° Orange, furry stinging “beetle” in Mojave desert, California.
October 1, 2009
I live in Lancaster, California in the high desert. One day while working outdoors I saw a furry orange insect about an inch long. It resembled a large furry ant or wingless bee and ran very quickly. I tried to pick it up using my handkerchief as padding and it stung me right through the cloth. The pain was excruciating but only lasted a few minutes. Subsequent examination showed that the bug had a black stinger perhaps 1/4″ long. It’s been a few months and I do not have pictures. I seem to recall the bug had some black too, but the furry part was bright orange.
The picture attached is NOT the bug in question, I just needed an image in order to ask this question.
Mike from the F.A.A.
Lancaster, California
Hi Mike,
We are sorry to hear you have been stung by a Velvet Ant because the sting is reported to be extremely painful. Velvet Ants are flightless female wasps.
¶ Posted 02 October 2009 § ‡ ° 
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