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Red Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla aureola

Description:

Brilliant red, female, wingless wasp with black legs, underside and antennae. They're solitary wasps and are usually seen crossing a trail.

Habitat:

Mixed oak forest. This is one of four velvet ants that we saw on a hike.

Notes:

Spotted by one of my teen nature enthusiasts :)

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21 Comments

Thanks Sergio and Mark :)

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Nice shots Cindy. Love the two-tone glitter effect.

Sergio Monteiro
Sergio Monteiro 10 years ago

Beautiful.

He he. No but there's apparently a yellow which is now on my list to spot.

Jolly Ibañez
Jolly Ibañez 10 years ago

Wow! red and white velvet ants. Do you have a purple one? hehe Beautiful spottings Cindy

Thank you all for the comments! This beautiful wasp was just screaming for attention with her shiny, red hair :)

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 10 years ago

Beautiful shots!

Amazing series Cindy,congrats and thanks for sharing

Noel Buensuceso
Noel Buensuceso 10 years ago

Beautiful series, Cindy!

Dan Doucette
Dan Doucette 10 years ago

Super hairy awesome spot Cindy!

outsidegirl0
outsidegirl0 10 years ago

oh woooooooooooooooooooooow!

TicThapanya
TicThapanya 10 years ago

very beautiful and first seen for me.

RiekoS
RiekoS 10 years ago

I have never seen this ant before. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for the comments! The common name is deceiving in that this is actually a wingless wasp.

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

what a beauty!!

YukoChartraw
YukoChartraw 10 years ago

Gorgeous ant!

trikkiwoo75
trikkiwoo75 10 years ago

beautiful!

I think so too, Sckel.

Sckel
Sckel 10 years ago

gorgeous as she shines

Thank you Debbie. This was the most brilliant colored wasp I've seen :)

Debbie Stewart
Debbie Stewart 10 years ago

Brilliant spotting, love the vibrance of the red and great photos cindy.

Escondido, California, USA

Spotted on May 18, 2013
Submitted on May 19, 2013

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