Velvet Ant Cow Killer

Description:

Red and black velvet ants are not ants, but a parasitoid wasp. The wingless females are capable of delivering an extremely painful sting, one that is said to be strong enough to kill a cow. This one was scurrying around, poking into old cicada holes and inspecting the Cicada Killer burrows.

Habitat:

Fields, sandy areas, the edges of forests.

Notes:

Adults feed on nectar and water. Immature stages are external parasites of ground nesting bees and wasps such as Cicada Killers. The adult female sneaks into the nests and lays her eggs on the larval wasp's cocoon. The velvet ants then hatch and feed on the wasp larva.