Cow killer ant, or red velvet ant?

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Oh those are nasty things!! I've got them in my field here!

Well that is it. Looks just like it. My pix didn't show up in the post but it did in the preview. Thanks. I'm off to google these things. Thats the second one I've seen. Decided to catch it. Yuck...

They are called "ants" because they live on the ground but in reality they are a type of wingless wasp or bee. They're good predators that do a great job of keeping bad bug populations under control. I've never heard of anyone being bitten or stung by one, nor have I heard of any cattle being killed by them. Out west they get pretty big (almost as big as a bumblebee) and they are beautiful and shiny velvet-ey. I've never seen one out here.

Did you know these things squeek? Yuck !

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:588262}}

Mad about Mickey, definite Velvet Ant. I've never heard of them squeeking. John, I see at least one or two a day here. As a rule out in my field when walking the pups. We just side step them but I do remember as a child my Dad saying he had been stung by them. My Grandmother also warned me about them, saying they were bad stings. May have been old wives tales to keep the 5 year old who loved to dig in the dirt away from them, but that is what I grew up knowing.

That is one fancy bug!! Looks like it just stepped off the runway in Paris!

I think I've been stung by everything out there and the worst reaction I have is to regular honeybee stings. The size of the sting-er has nothing to do with the pain to the sting-ee. But people are different and some people may react stronger to yellow jackets or wasps. My yard must be a perfect habitat for hymenopterans because I see natives and non-natives everyday but I don't have the open terrain that velvet ants perfer.

I found a velvet ant once here (but only once). They are really pretty in person- startlingly colorful. I only found out after the fact that they were wasps and their stings were supposed to be bad, but the one i found wasn't aggressive at all and as i recall we picked it up and moved it (in some sort of container) to get a better picture.

Mickey, know what else squeaks? Tomato hornworms squeak and click if you pick them up to startle you into dropping them. Bess bugs aka patent leather beetles aka betsy beetles (large, shiney black and harmless) will squeak up a storm if you pick them up- almost like they're crying. They never bite, though. My kids have grown up playing with them. The larva (big grubs like JB juvvies) feed on rotting wood, and the adults tend them. Since we are in a woodsy area with lots of downed wood, we see them all the time.

I'm so glad to see this post! I have seen these in my vegetable garden and wondered what they were. Thank you!
Pam

I was just looking this bug up found one in my back yard!