Deadly Cow Killer

Female Red Velvet Ant

Red Velvet Ant:

The Mutillidae are a family of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their dense pile of hair which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold. Black and white specimens are sometimes known as panda ants due to their hair colour resembling that of the Chinese giant panda. Male velvet ants are not aggressive and will try to escape when encountered, but females have a very painful  sting if  handled. 
Females use a long, needle-like stinger concealed at the tip of the abdomen. Many of the velvet ants can produce a squeaking sound when disturbed.

Panda Velvet Ant

One velvet ant that is commonly submitted for identification is the ‘cow killer.’ The cow killer is the largest of the velvet ants in Kentucky, nearly an inch in length. It earned its name by the reputation of the female’s sting. It is said that the sting is so painful that it could kill a cow. that is why they are also known as cow killer or cow ant. The males have two pairs of transparent black wings. The females are wingless and are sometimes confused with ants. It is not like a real ant, they do not have drones, workers, and queens. They differ from ants in having only a slight constriction between the thorax and abdomen and having straight rather than elbowed antennae. The female is mostly red with some black, the male is half red and half black with dark wings. 

Male Red Velvet Ant

Behaviour:

Adult velvet ants feed on nectar and water. The immature stages are external parasites of bees and wasps that nest in the ground. A few species parasitize some flies and beetles. Consequently, there are no identifiable nests to treat. Velvet ants prefer pastures and fields with sandy soil where their prey are most likely to be found. There is no effective control measure for them. If they are particularly abundant in an area, it may be helpful in the long run to overseed to get a better grass cover. This would discourage the ground nesting bees and wasps on which velvet ants feed. Females seek out bumble bee nests and lay eggs inside the wax cups. After bees or wasps have formed cocoons, adult female velvet ants enter the host nest by digging through the soil or breaking through nest walls. The cow killer larvae feed on the bumble bee larvae and pupae and will pupate inside the bumble bee nest. This bumble bee is ultimately killed. The exoskeleton of all velvet ants is unusually tough. This characteristic allows them to successfully invade the nests of their prey and also helps them retain moisture.