One of the things I enjoy about photographing insects is that there are no shortage of them and many of them have very interesting characteristics. One example, are velvet ants. They look like giant ants, but in reality, they are wasps. But if that’s not interesting enough for you, it’s only the females that look like ants! The males have wings, fly around, and look and act like any other wasp, except for the inability to sting (which is not unique to them). Here in Florida, we have about fifty different species of velvet ants that are divided into seven different genera, but worldwide there are over 8000 species! All of them are solitary wasps that parasitize larava and pupae of other insects, especially other wasps. The adults feed on nectar like most other wasps.

Velvet ants are also sometimes called cow killer ants or mule killer ants due to the fact that the sting of some species are said to be very painful. In reality, though, the stings are less toxic than those of many other insects, and they are not aggressive. Most stings occur when the velvet ant is startled or threatened by being handled or stepped on. If you don’t mess with them, they are quite harmless, and are in fact very good pollinators and they help to control populations of other plant damaging insects. Velvet ants are all members of the family Mutillidae, and these particular individuals are from the genus Dasymutilla. Determining the species requires some microscopic investigations and examining wing markings and vein patterns on the males.

I found the velvet ants in these photos when I was taking photos of some of the wildflowers growing near my office. There was a big patch of these Mexican clover flowers out back and they were loaded with pollinators including these girls. I’ve always found these insects fascinating because of their unique qualities. I know enough not to try to handle them (I don’t handle my subjects, anyhow!), but they generally just ignore me and go on about their business. Their colors and fuzzy bodies are always beautiful and their various patterns striking. The fact that they’re good pollinators is just a bonus.