velvet ant

Description:

A 10mm wingless wasp with a prominent black head and abdomen. Thorax showed pitting and was a reddish-brown. The tip of the abdomen was covered with dense golden setae.

Habitat:

garden

Notes:

Looking very much like an ant, this fast moving wasp is a female called a "velvet ant" because of it's hairy body. These wasps are said to hunt out nests of other wasps or bees and lay their egg in the nest. The velvet ant larva then feeds on the larva of the "host" and later builds its own cocoon, remaining within the nest until it emerges as an adult. Here's a close-up of another velvet ant http://www.myrmecos.net/insects/AusMut2....