Velvet Ant -female wasp

Description:

This busy little 10 mm long insect that looks very much like a small ant is a female wasp. The body looked fuzzy because f the dense dark setae. The abdomen appeared to have a couple of narrow silvery bands. Eyes were small on a squarish head.

Habitat:

Spotted in a sburban garden.

Notes:

This is a second one I've spotted in a week. They are fast movers and so are difficult to photograph. Velvet Ant males have wings and fly to find their wingless mates. Some in the species carry the females with them. Velvet Ants burrow into nests of other insects and lay eggs beside those of the host. The velvet ant larve hatch and live of the host larvae. They pupate in a silk cocoon and emerge as an adult. Both sexes produce a squeaky sound when alarmed. Females have long and manuoevrable stingers which can deliver very painful stings.
Family: Mutillidae