Explanation of Names
Mutilla may be related to Latin mutilus 'maimed'; unclear.
"Velvet Ant" refers to the hairy nature and the body form like that of ants.
Numbers
ca. 480 spp. in our area
(1); about 8,000 spp. in 230 genera/subgenera worldwide (
Hertz 2009)
Identification
Females wingless, very hairy, and may look like large ants but have no node (bump) on "waist" between abdomen and thorax (ants have one or two)
Males winged, less hairy, look more like typical wasps, larger than females
The sexual dimorphism caused grave taxonomic confusion: genders are difficult to associate and males & females of a single sp. often get placed in separate genera
(2) (more
here)
Range
worldwide, mostly in drier areas; in NA, mostly southwestern
Food
Adults (males at least) are observed taking nectar.
Life Cycle
ectoparasitoids of immature insects, esp. bees and solitary wasps (also flies, limacodid moths, beetles, and cockroaches)
(2)Remarks
can give an excruciating sting if handled
Print References
Manley D. F. 1991, The velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of South Carolina. South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Tech. Bull. 1100, 55 pp.
