Velvet Ant

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:51 pm

Velvet Ant
EOS 30D w/EF-100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
430EX Speedlite
Front lawn, mowed grass

augusthouse · Post by **augusthouse** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:12 pm

Ken,
Is that a pile of lawn cuttings the 'velvet ant' is on or did you mow the lawn with a helicopter?

So this is actually a wingless female wasp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_ant

Craig

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:38 pm

Craig asked:

Ken,
Is that a pile of lawn cuttings the 'velvet ant' is on or did you mow the lawn with a helicopter?

Cluster bombs, ATP

Now that you bring it to mind, I remember someone else referring to it as a wingless wasp also. Thanks for the link too!

Thanks Craig

jaharris1001 · Post by **jaharris1001** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:54 pm

those are really cool looking ants,, Ive seen a few but they seem to move VERY fast through the foliage and you have to be quick with your camera or youd miss your oppurtunity,, nice capture Ken

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:56 pm

Yeah they are pretty quick on their feet. That is why I did not get any closer to this one.

Thanks Jim

Aynia · Post by **Aynia** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:53 am

Very pretty little thing.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:02 am

Thanks Aynia, these are very colorful and pretty creatures

P_T · Post by **P_T** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:19 am

How the heck did it survive the lawnmower?

I've never seen it before, can't believe it's a wasp without wings. I've been bitten by fire ants quite a few times before, I wonder what it's like to get bitten by this one.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:36 am

P_T asked:

How the heck did it survive the lawnmower?

The lawn had been already mowed for a day or two. My front lawn, I have no back one really, is comprised of fescu, dallas grass, crab grass, and an assortment of weeds. That is what living in the country gets you. Although I count myself lucky to have any greenery, some front lawns around within the county, consist of rusted out junk car and truck bodies, red clay, and old worn out stuff.

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:17 am

P_T wrote:I wonder what it's like to get bitten by this one.

Quite painful apparently!

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/cowkiller.shtml

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:38 am

What a beauty of a mutillid!
Ours are not that colourful, seems everthing is brighter and bigger there in America!

BTW, they use their sting, it´s not their "bite" that´s said to be painful. I never got stung myself from the few I have seen so far, having heard of their powerful sting, I didn´t pick them up of course. So anyway, it´s their "behind" one should avoid.

--Betty

g4lab · Post by **g4lab** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:23 am

Here in my neighborhood in St. Louis we have a lot of the cicada killer solitary wasps mentioned in the article cited above.

When I was a child I was afraid of them because they are large red wasps.
But they are very non aggressive supposedly rarely stinging people even when handled. So I sort of started liking them somewhat.

But their life style , stinging cicadas and their larvae very carefully eating the cicada in a particular order so that they stay alive long enough for plenty of development to take place, is fairly horrifying.

Now I find out that velvet ants go in and do the same thing to cicada killers.
I always knew nature isn't for the faint of heart but couldn't you just do it like the great white shark. Just chomp your prey in two and swallow it.

And all these PERFECT portraits like full color SEMs of bugs on this forum are making me very grateful that they don't grow bigger.

Hard to believe we STILL share alot of DNA with them.

Gordon C. Snelling · Post by **Gordon C. Snelling** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:06 pm

Dasymutilla occidentalis, really neat wasps.