What the heck is this?
Location: Houston, TX
October 3, 2010 2:03 pm
My dad was outside and this bug started crawling towards him. I took him many tries for him to actually kill the bug so I’m sorry that the bug is torn up in these pictures. We’ve never seen one like it and we would really be interested in knowing. It looks kind of like a wingless wasp and has a stinger, but also looks like a spider.
Signature: Texas Girl
Velvet Ant Carnage
Dear Texas Girl,
These are the mutilated remains of a Velvet Ant, most likely a Cowkiller, so named because its sting is reported to be so painful. Velvet Ants are flightless female wasps. We hope we are never in a position to be approaching your father if it might incite a similar response of Unnecessary Carnage just because we might look unfamiliar or different. Granted, the sting of a Velvet Ant is reported to be quite painful, but it is not the intent of a Velvet Ant to sting indiscriminately, but rather, to sting if it feels threatened due to careless handling.
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Geez, what a bunch of bleeding-heart hippies you guys are. You’re acting like he killed a baby or something like that. It’s just a bloody insect that the guy killed, so get over it.
Tolerance needs to begin somewhere and the lower beasts is a good place to start. Appreciation of the natural world and its wonders is part of our educational mission. We would most certainly have had a stronger reaction had he “killed a baby”.
Bleeding heart hippies? Killed a baby? Some people will always find something to complain or be offended about. Keep doing what youre doing guys, the work and education is much appreciated.
I can hear him now, “How dare you call them ‘guys’ like they could only be men! You dont think women could be insect researchers??? You xenophobe, white privilege blah blah blah” 😉