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Apr 16, 2024 · Where Are They Found? The species of velvet ants are scattered across the world. The red velvet ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis) is a common one found all over the US. You can see these wasps all throughout Missouri to Connecticut in North America. In South America, you can spot velvet ant species from Texas to North Florida.
Their common name velvet ant refers to their resemblance to an ant, and their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold. Their bright colors serve as aposematic signals.
- Mutillidae, Latreille, 1802
- Animalia
- Less than 1 year
- 6-20 mm in length
- Velvet ants are solitary insects. The female velvet ant lives almost her entire life alone, searching for places to lay her eggs. The winged males are also solitary, seeking out a female only to mate before the two go their separate ways once again.
- Velvet ants have developed strong leg muscles. Despite lacking the ability to take flight in order to escape predators, the female velvet ant more than makes up for it with speed and strength.
- Velvet ants are “nearly impervious’ to predators. There are no insectivores that are known to specifically hunt velvet ants, and their arsenal of protective weapons makes for a challenging attack!
- Velvet ants have an extremely strong exoskeleton. This is another one of their protective measures to prevent attack. It takes around 11 times more strength to crush a velvet ant than it would to squash a honeybee, for example.
Jun 30, 2019 · Velvet ants are part of class Insecta and are found worldwide. They get their name from the bright, fuzzy fur on their bodies. For example, Dasymutilla occidentalis (red velvet ant) is derived from the Greek root word meaning shaggy (dasy).
- Regina Bailey
Velvet ants are not ants at all; they are wasps in the family Mutillidae. Although more common in the southwestern U.S., they can be found throughout the Southeast. Forty-one species in six genera occur in South Carolina.
Red velvet ant, also commonly called cow ant, cow killer ant, or eastern velvet ant, is actually a species of parasitic wasps that belong to the family Mutillidae and is typically found in the eastern United States.
Insects in the family Mutillidae are often referred to as velvet ants because female members of the family lack wings and have coarse setae that cover most of their body, making them resemble hairy ants. To the surprise of most people, mutillids are not ants at all – they are wasps. Figure 1.
