This Friday, I went up to Vacaville. In my aunts trash, I found this little guy. It looked exactly like an ant, but it was yellowish-orange, and it was furry! It was the weirdest thing to see. He was also extremely fast at crawling for such little legs. Also, he wasn't the only one of these I saw. On may 5, a day after I found this one, I saw another one outside by the patio table.
Dasymutilla are actually a variety of wasp. They are known by the common name "cow killer" because of their extremely painful sting. This one was hand-carried some distance before that disturbing information was discovered.
Small one crossing the path. Decided against testing this "cowkiller" reputation.
Mutillidae are a family of wasps whose wingless females resemble ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their dense hair which may be red, black, white, silver, or gold. They are known for their extremely painful sting, facetiously said to be strong enough to kill a cow, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant is applied to some species.
