Animal profile

Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla occidentalis

InsectaSandy open ground, dry meadows and pine woodland in warm climates

Field profile

The eastern velvet ant, or cow killer, is a wasp in the family Mutillidae. Females are wingless and densely furred in red and black; males fly and look quite different. Larvae are parasitoids of the pupae of ground-nesting bees and wasps.

Published field notes

2024-04-17

Velvet Ant

The velvet ant is a wingless wasp

Females have no wings and run over sand like large furry ants, which is where the name came from. The nickname cow killer describes the sting's pain, not any recorded death of livestock.

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