rss Red Velvet Wasp with Wings?
I saw this on my porch and it scared me to death. The coloring matches the Red Velvet Wasp but isn’t it supposed to be wingless?
Hi Melanie,
Male Velvet Ants are winged and females are flightless. This is a male Cow Killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis.
Bug…unknown
Bugman,
I am not sure if I sent the first one correctly. Here are the photo’s of a very strange looking bug. I am not sure if it is an ant,beetle or some kind of wingless bee? Is a bug in it’s developing stage? Will it morph later on? I live in the high desert. Hesperia, CA. I found it while rock hunting around my area. Please help me identify this bug. Thank you for any information.
Leanora
Hi Leanora,
This is a Thistledown Velvet Ant, a flightless female wasp reputed to have a very painful sting. Males of the species are smaller and winged. Your photo is quite surreal.
Correction: (07/02/2007)
Hi, Daniel: Great job, as usual, with all the IDs and postings. Only one correction. Pretty sure the “thistledown velvet ant” posted is actually Sacken’s velvet ant, Dasymutilla sackeni. Thistledown velvet ants (D. gloriosa) have much longer hairs, and are bright white, not “dirty white” as this specimen is. Sacken’s velvet ant is one of the more common species in California. Great detective work by everyone on the male crevice spider! The angle of the image managed to camouflage those incredible pedipalps, which are a hallmark for ID of the males. The opening post for the “bug of the month” is also great, as it demonstrates what a great service you are providing in alleviating irrational fears of insects and spiders. I am overjoyed to hear of someone befriending a cicada killer instead of finding a big shoe….:-) Keep up the wonderful crusade, my friend. Sincerely,
Eric Eaton
help!?!
Can you please tell me what this bug is that I found in the back yard. I have tried searching for it on the internet but have been unable to figure it out. Thank you!
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Velvet Ants are really a flightless female wasp that packs a wallop of a sting.
beetle with white hair?
Hi Bugman,
I live in Corona, CA (borders Riverside) and found this beetle looking creature – actually my dog was following it around curiously – in my back yard. When it is scampering to get away, it makes a cute little squeaky noise. The hair on it’s back seems about 5 – 10 mm long, pretty fuzzy! Would love to know what it is, and what it eats! I’m going to let it go in a couple of days. Thanks,
Rich
Corona, CA
Hi Rich,
This Velvet Ant, a flightless female wasp that packs a wallop of a sting.
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 14. Dasymutilla sackeni. hope this helps a bit.
What’s that Ant?
Was on a ‘fun walk’ on the Navajo Reservation when I came across this interesting little ant. I wish the picture was a little clearer but it wouldn’t stop when I asked it to. I ran across it near Kayenta, Arizona. Earlier, I had seen a similar ant except it was blue. There are so many interesting bugs on the reservation. I’ll have to find more and take pictures of them.
This is not an ant. It is a flightless female wasp commonly called a Velvet Ant. According to the photos on BugGuide, this would appear to be in the genus Pseudomethoca.
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 16. Pseudomethoca sp. hope this helps a bit.
Bugs identification…
Hi, I work as webmaster in small new Zoo, at Puerto Vallarta Mexico. I like a lot insect so in my free time I go around in dry jungle here to observe plants and discover insects I have never seen! Well so i have found this little creatures, hope you could identify them. I think the first one is a velvet ant (cow killer) , does this animal really sting to kill a man or a cow¡? I didnt have my macro at that time so the pics are not really good. … I will aprecciate your answer, and it will be really grate to understand the behavior of this little amazing creatures of the low level world =) Thank you.
Christian V.
Hi Christian,
We are happy to get your Velvet Ant photo. Its markings are very different from any other photos we have received. The sting of a Velvet Ant is very painful, but will not kill a person or a cow unless there are extenuating circumstances like allergies. We don’t know what your caterpillar is, but it sounds like it might have been parasitized, which interfered with the normal life cycle.
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 17. Dasymutilla sp. hope this helps a bit.
Red Velvet Ant
Hi!
I took these pics of a red velvet ant on 09/25/2006 in Kentucky. That is one of the most beautiful *bugs* in our back yard. Have a great day!
Caroline
Hi Caroline,
We are so happy to hear that you appreciate the beauty of this fascinating flightless female wasp that is commonly called a Cow Killer because of her painful sting.
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 17. Dasymutilla sp. hope this helps a bit.
White fuzzy/hair insect — what is it?
Hi, Daniel!
Despite quite a bit of searching around on your great site, I didn’t find an image anything like this (although I confess that I don’t have any idea where to start). My wife and I recently visited the Palomar Observatory in the NE San Diego County mountains, where we saw this critter on one of the walkways. I would have liked to get a better photo, but it turned, I think defensively, to avoid a head-on shot. It’s not real big — maybe 3/4". What is it? And is the white fuzz/hair normal? Thanks!
Dave
Hi Dave,
We noticed you wrote back to us to say you had identified your Velvet Ant on our site before we had a chance to respond. You photo is beautiful. Someone once described this flightless female was as resembling David Bowie. We have a long history of misidentifying what we have thought was the Thistledown Velvet Ant, but this is another species in the genus Dasymutilla.
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