Red Velvet Ant
Characteristics: Although they look like ants, Velvet ants are acutally hairy wasps! They scurry about the ground like ants and carry a painful sting.
Males can fly, but females are wingless. Adults drink nectar.
General Adult Size (Length):
18mm to 21mm
(0.71in to 0.83in)
Identifying Colors: black; red
North American reach includes (may not be limited to): Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico
Category: Bee, Ant, Wasp and Similar
Common Name: Red Velvet Ant
Scientific Name: (Dasymutilla magnifica)
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Mutillidae
Genus: Dasymutilla
Species: magnifica

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