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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#219440
Black And Red Wasp - Dasymutilla occidentalis
Copyright © 2008 MJMason

Black And Red Wasp - Dasymutilla occidentalis
Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida, USA
August 1, 2008
Size: 1.84 mb
This black wasp with a bright red, fuzzy head and tail, was the first of it's kind I've seen. It was actively climbing this plant, but didn't seem aggressive in it's manner. It didn't seem to mind that I was hovering near it.
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Contributed by MJMason on 29 August, 2008 - 11:55am
Last updated 31 August, 2008 - 10:34am

Moved from ID request to Guid
Moved from ID request to Guide at species level.
… E Moon, 31 August, 2008 - 10:35am login or register to post comments

Male velvet ant.
This is a male "cow killer" velvet ant, Dasymutilla occidentalis. Males have no stinger, so why behave aggressively if you can't back it up?:-) Females are wingless and pack a very potent sting.
… Eric R. Eaton, 29 August, 2008 - 12:53pm login or register to post comments

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