red bug
Location: Anza, California
June 30, 2011 6:32 am
Hi,
Photographed this fast little thingy on our property last year. I’ve seen a couple of them before, but they always seem to escape the frame before I can capture more than their tail-end leaving the picture. Any ideas please?
Signature: Karen
Hi Karen,
The big gal is a Velvet Ant, a flightless female wasp that packs quite a painful sting. We believe the red ants are California Harvester Ants, Pogonomyrmex californicus, which also sting.
Thanks Daniel,
Love the site, by the way.
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination
The velvet ant is Dasymutilla aureola.
Thanks for the identification.
Thanks but im not in california im in kansas and ben seeing more of these latley