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Ants In Florida Photo Gallery
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It was very difficult to get this picture. This 1" long
female velvet ant is so shy she just wants to run away and hide. I couldn't
get my tape measure near her, but she is the size of my little finger.
Eventually, she did find a place to hide where I couldn't find her.
Velvet ants are actually wasps. They live alone, I know
she is a female because she doesn't have any wings, males have short wings.
Males are slightly darker, sometimes described as wine red, and fly around
hunting, sometimes around other males. She is covered with fine red hair, but don't try to
catch or pet her. |
| The 1" long velvet ants are also called "cow killers" because their sting is so
painful, they say it would "kill a cow". It doesn't do permanent damage and is not life threatening, you just
wish you were dead because it hurts so bad. Don't get
me wrong, they are timid and run away like crazy, but if you corner them
they can sting you.
Velvet ants actually hunt ground dwelling wasps and
bees. They burro into the nests and lay their eggs, when the larvae hatch
they eat the host's larvae along with any food the host delivers for it's
own young. So,
if you see velvet ants, there is probably an underground wasp nest or bee
nest somewhere close. Be careful, because swarms come out of
underground nests when they are disturbed.
Velvet ants live alone and feed on ground dwelling
bees and wasps. So they help keep down the population
of some REALLY nasty swarms of stingers. |
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