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Velvet Ant

Insects

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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.

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