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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets (Vespoidea) » Velvet Ants (Mutillidae) » Dasymutilla » Cow Killer (Dasymutilla occidentalis)
Photo#207640
Cow killer - Dasymutilla occidentalis - male
Copyright © 2008 Aaron Goodwin

Cow killer - Dasymutilla occidentalis - Male
Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, USA
July 29, 2008
I'm 99% sure this is Dasymutilla occidentalis, but I'd like someone to verify this, please.

I have to say that I've been actively studying invertebrates for the last decade and I've never run across a male velvet ant. I've seen plenty of females wandering around but never a male... until today. A couple of co-workers who are my "bug buddies" called to alert me of the possible presence of THREE male velvet ants in their area. I quickly ran down and netted two of them for photo purposes.

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Cow killer - Dasymutilla occidentalis - male Cow killer - Dasymutilla occidentalis - male Cow killer - Dasymutilla occidentalis - male
Contributed by Aaron Goodwin on 29 July, 2008 - 5:47pm

Yes.
Very nice image, too. Look for male velvet ants flying low over areas frequented by the females (usually sandy soil, like in railroad beds in urban areas). Also look around aphid colonies and extrafloral nectaries on sunflowers and other plants).
… Eric R. Eaton, 29 July, 2008 - 6:08pm

 
...
Thank you, Eric. I have to admit that I cheated a bit on this one and chilled the little guy for a few minutes prior to shooting it. I posed it and quickly snapped photos like mad as it warmed up and flew away. There is no way I'd get shots otherwise, as all three of the males I saw refused to land.
… Aaron Goodwin, 29 July, 2008 - 6:25pm

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