Common Eastern Velvet Ant Images

Common Eastern Velvet Ant Images, Facts and Information:

Dasymutilla occidentalis

• Common Eastern Velvet Ants are actually parasitoid wasps, not ants. Females are large, hairy insects with bright red and black coloration. Males are smaller, less colorful, and have wings.
• Common Eastern Velvet Ants are found throughout the eastern United States, from New England to Florida and west to Texas and Nebraska.
• Common Eastern Velvet Ants prefer open, sandy areas such as fields, pastures, lawns, and forest edges. They are often seen scurrying across the ground in search of food or mates.
• Common Eastern Velvet Ants feed on nectar as adults. Their larvae are parasites of ground-nesting bees and wasps.
• Female Common Eastern Velvet Ants lay their eggs near the nests of their host species. The larvae develop by feeding on the host’s larvae or pupae.
• Common Eastern Velvet Ants are also known as “cow killers” due to their extremely painful sting, though this name is an exaggeration.
• A group of velvet ants can be called a “herd” or “drove” of velvet ants.
• The lifespan of a Common Eastern Velvet Ant is typically one year.

I hope you enjoy viewing my Common Eastern Velvet Ant photos.