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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies (Pompiloidea) » Velvet Ants (Mutillidae) » Sphaeropthalminae » Pseudomethocini » Pseudomethoca » Pseudomethoca anthracina
Photo#415102
Velvet Ant 3-26-09 - Pseudomethoca anthracina - female
Copyright © 2010 stonebird

Velvet Ant 3-26-09 - Pseudomethoca anthracina - Female
Los Angeles, Ballona Wetlands, California, USA
March 26, 2009
Size: 1/4 inch

Images of this individual: tag all
Velvet Ant 3-26-09 - Pseudomethoca anthracina - female Velvet Ant 3-26-09 - Pseudomethoca anthracina - female
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Contributed by stonebird on 22 June, 2010 - 5:41pm
Last updated 22 August, 2010 - 12:30pm

Moved
Moved from Velvet Ants.
… Ken Schneider, 22 August, 2010 - 12:30pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Ken Schneider, 9 July, 2010 - 4:49pm login or register to post comments

,i>Dasymutilla aureola?
Looks like a Dasymutilla species to me. Maybe Dasymutilla aureola?

… Megan McCarty, 22 June, 2010 - 6:03pm login or register to post comments

 
Close
This is actually Pseudomethoca anthracina, almost a direct clone of D. aureola but from a different genus.
… Kevin Williams, 22 August, 2010 - 11:26am login or register to post comments

 
Commonly called a "cow killer
Commonly called a "cow killer ant" it is not an ant. It is in the wasp family. Only the female can sting. They have powerful venom.
… Randy Coley, 22 June, 2010 - 6:30pm login or register to post comments

 
For future readers
To prevent future readers from getting incorrect info, "cow killer" only properly refers to a single species, Dasymutilla occidentalis. It shouldn't be used to refer to members of the family in general. Sting intensity is also highly variable, with species reported anywhere from a 1 to a 3 in Schmit's sting pain index.
… Jonathan Hoskins, 5 June, 2021 - 9:01pm login or register to post comments

 
Yes, not an ant. But if you l
Yes, not an ant. But if you look close on one of the photos there is an ant doing the piggy back on the Velvet Ant wasp. I've been posting these to see if the particular species of Velvet Ant can be narrowed down. We seem to have a number of varieties here.
… stonebird, 22 June, 2010 - 9:31pm login or register to post comments

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