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.
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Yeah, it’s A velvet ant. I saw one today while hiking in the Indian canyons in Palm Springs. I took some pics and it’s a cool bug.
Just saw the same in Tombstone, AZ…but different from what I had seen before as a velvet ant
According to BugGuide, there are 480 species of Velvet Ants in North America. There is also much visual diversity among them.
My family and I just saw one in Menifee, CA.