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Velvet Ant

Insects

Velvet ants are a family of wasps, Mutillidae, whose densely hairy, brightly colored females are wingless and resemble large ants, while the males are winged and can fly. Found mainly in warm, arid regions worldwide, females possess an unusually long, painful sting used in defense, which in some North American species has earned the common name cow killer, though the sting is not actually lethal to cattle or humans.

Facts
Identification
Distinguishing Appearance
Wingless females covered in dense hair, most often bright scarlet or orange, resembling large hairy ants 1
Comparison
CITES Appendix
Not Listed 3
Scientific Name
Mutillidae 1
Classification
Living or Extinct
Yes 2
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Hymenoptera, Taxa
Source Wikidata: Velvet Ant
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Denmark

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Norway

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sweden

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

United States

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Velvet ant
  • Introduction
    Velvet ants (Mutillidae) are a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants
  • Introduction [distinguishing-appearance]
    their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold
  • Lead section
    They are known for their extremely painful sting (the sting of the species Dasymutilla klugii rated a 3 on the Schmidt pain index and lasts up to 30 minutes), which has resulted in the common name "cow killer" or "cow ant" being applied to the species Dasymutilla occidentalis.
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2. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ252363, descriptionView the Source
3. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Insecta
UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 28
Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 28
"cites_listing":"I/II/III/NC","eu_listing":"A/B/C/NC","higher_taxa":{"kingdom":"Animalia","phylum":"Arthropoda","class":"Insecta","order":null,"family":null},"synonyms":[],"common_names":[{"name":"Insectos","language":"ES"},{"name":"Insects","language":"EN"},{"name":"Insectes","language":"FR"},{"name":"昆虫纲","language":"ZH"}],"cites_listings":[]
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Wikidata: Velvet Ant
  • Wikidata Q252363, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Child Taxon Of: Hymenoptera, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
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