Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Registration is open for the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
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 » Dasymutillini » Dasymutilla » Thistledown Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla gloriosa)
Photo#58323
Thistledown Velvet Ant - Dasymutilla gloriosa - female
Copyright © 2006 Rob Klotz

Thistledown Velvet Ant - Dasymutilla gloriosa - Female
Camp Verde, Yavapai County, Arizona, USA
June 18, 2004
This velvet ant was hard to photograph, always on the move!
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Rob Klotz on 17 June, 2006 - 9:43pm

Your moniker
Tree/shrub genus in Rhamnaceae but sounds a bit like Sisyphus, condemned by the gods to forever strive to roll the huge boulder uphill but never succeed. Double entendre?
… Jim McClarin, 18 June, 2006 - 6:59am login or register to post comments

What a Beauty!
What a Beauty!
… john and jane balaban, 17 June, 2006 - 10:45pm login or register to post comments

 
Yes
Yes, I agree! I've never seen anything like this.
… Stephen_WV, 18 June, 2006 - 5:03am login or register to post comments

 
June in Arizona, apparently
I was out on a visit to the Phoenix area and saw one of these on June 14 at South Mountain Regional Park. This is Sonoran desert, and very rocky. I was looking at a Gila Woodpecker nest hole in a saguaro and the thing just came out near my feet. It never stopped moving, and would have been very difficult to photograph. Unfortunately, I had put on a long telephoto lens to try to photograph the woodpeckers. By the time I could get my macro back on, the velvet ant was gone. That's what I get for being interested in insects and birds.

So perhaps the velvet ant is not too uncommon in the right habitat, and at the right time--photos here and my observation were in June.
… Cotinis, 18 June, 2006 - 8:52am login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact