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
TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData
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 » Magnificent Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla magnifica)

Species Dasymutilla magnifica - Magnificent Velvet Ant

Classification · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Works Cited
Dasymutilla magnifica - female Velvet Ant - Dasymutilla magnifica - female Velvet Ant/Cow Killer ? - Dasymutilla magnifica - female dasymutilla magnifica - Dasymutilla magnifica - male dasymutilla magnifica - Dasymutilla magnifica - female dasymutilla magnifica - Dasymutilla magnifica - female Banning crawler - Banning, CA - Dasymutilla magnifica huge mutillid - Dasymutilla magnifica
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Pompiloidea (Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies)
Family Mutillidae (Velvet Ants)
Subfamily Sphaeropthalminae
Tribe Dasymutillini
Genus Dasymutilla
Species magnifica (Magnificent Velvet Ant)
Explanation of Names
Dasymutilla magnifica Mickel 1928
Identification
This is one of several Dasymutilla species within a Müllerian mimicry ring where the head and thorax black and the abdomen predominantly red. This species is known from the desert southwest and is not known from Texas (the larger members of the ring here are D. klugii and D. gorgon). There are additional smaller species with this color pattern as well.
"can be recognized from similar large velvet ants by the red bands of setae on the underside of the abdomen. In most other velvet ants of this color, the underside of the abdomen is mostly black." --Kevin Williams (1)
Range
desert southwest (not extending into Texas)
Works Cited
1.Velvet Ant
Contributed by Joel Kits on 17 March, 2005 - 11:23pm
Additional contributions by v belov, PaleoJon
Last updated 6 June, 2023 - 8:57pm

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