Subject: Red Haired Velvet Ant
Location: Peachy Canyon, Paso Robles, California
April 18, 2014
hello, what’s that bug? !
i know what this is called and saw it in Peachy Canyon, Paso Robles, CA.
in “California Insects”, (Powell and Hogue) it is described as, “It is one of our commonest species, ranging widely in the Coastal Ranges”. however, i have only seen two before. do you think they are less common now?
thank you,
clare
Red Haired Velvet Ant
Thanks for the image Clare. Do you have a larger file? According to BugGuide, the Red Haired Velvet Ant is Dasymutilla aureola, and it is reported from California and Oregon.
Red Haired Velvet Ant: Larger file
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Location: Paso Robles, California
Hello,
We saw a white haired velvet ant yesterday while hiking in the Santa Monica mountains, off Stunt Rd. (Red Rock Canyon).
It was burrowing/digging in the dirt and could not care less whether we were there or not.
It (she) was beautiful and large. I had never seen an ant like this. Once I looked it up, I was surprised to know it was an ant. She was all alone.