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

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#641266
Fuzzy beetle looks like a wingless bee - Dasymutilla sackenii

Fuzzy beetle looks like a wingless bee - Dasymutilla sackenii
Buena Vista Park, San Diego County, California, USA
May 13, 2012
This guy wiggled its abdomen at a fairly high frequency when we moved a stick close to it.

Images of this individual: tag all
Fuzzy beetle looks like a wingless bee - Dasymutilla sackenii Fuzzy beetle looks like a wingless bee - Dasymutilla sackenii

Moved
Moved from Dasymutilla.

Lacks the gray joints and yellowish tip of the abdomen of D. magna; lacks the black tip of the abdomen of D. arenivaga; lacks the white setae on the legs of D. gloriosa; and this isn't in Imperial county so shouldn't be D. nocturna. The integument of D. sackenii is black, so that's showing through here.

Moved
Moved from Velvet Ants.

This is a Dasymutilla female.
This is a Dasymutilla female. Considering the location and appearance of the setae, I'd say it could be D. sackenii but I'm very unfamiliar with the western species.

Also known as the "cow killer
Also known as the "cow killer". If you've ever been stung by one, you'll know why. I've never seen a gray one as they are all bright red or orange around here.

 
Corrections for future readers
For future readers, "cow killer" only applies to the species Dasymutilla occidentalis. This is a smaller species and very unlikely to have as painful a sting (members of this genus range anywhere from a 1 to a 3 on Schmidt's sting pain index, and most species have not been formally ranked).

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

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