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Dasymutilla vesta
These insects are wasps, not ants. Females are wingless and covered with dense hair, superficially resembling ants. The red velvet-ant is the largest velvet-ant species, reaching about 3/4 inch in length. They are black overall with patches of dense orange-red hair on the thorax and abdomen. Males are similar but have wings and can not sting. http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg3...
Lone females can be found crawling on the ground, particularly in open sandy areas. Adults are most common during the warm summer months. Larvae are solitary, external parasites of developing bumble bees.
A.K.A. Cow killer. User by the name of ForestDragon helped me identify this one.
2 Comments
Thanks.
This is a Velvet Ant, a species of Wasp (yes they can sting). The females are flightless and resemble large ants. It is most likely Genus Dasymutilla:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/13118
There are a couple of different species that look similar to this one. You may need to do a bit of research to see which ones occur in your area. I am not sure. Hope this helps.