#Dasymutilla sackenii

[bestanimal]

:ooo do you have a favorite hymenopteran? im fond of the velvet ant, since i saw so many while i was at my last job

It’s hard to narrow it down to just one favorite (we’ll see if I have to do that in this tournament lol), but tbh I am really fond of a lot of wasps, mostly Apoidea. I love Eastern Cicada Killers (Sphecius speciosus) and a lot of the other big guys like the Steel-blue Cricket-hunter (Chlorion aerarium) and Great Black Digger Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) are always fun to see in the wild. I love sweat bees too, especially the green ones. One I added to my collection last Summer that I found really beautiful was the Norton’s Nomia (Nomia nortoni) which has pearlescent stripes???

But yeah Velvet Ants are also a great pick, I love seeing them. I saw a male Eastern Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis) for the first time this Summer and was really bummed I didn’t have my net with me. (I collect only one male and female of each species.) He had beautiful metallic blue wings. I also used to have 2 pet velvet ants that lived with my death-feigning beetles. Their names were Bambi and Cupcake. 😅

The thing with Hymenopterans is that they’re just so incredibly diverse that it’s hard to pick just one, and that’s one of the reasons I love them so much! And you don’t even have to travel far to see cool ones; there’s a huge diversity of them right in your backyard. I am sitting on the back porch right now watching a Potter Wasp and and Carpenter Bee pollinate my Heuchera.

Photos, cause I guess this can double as Arthropod propaganda, not that it needs it lol:

Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) (own work)

Steel-blue Cricket-hunter (Chlorion aerarium) (source)

Great Black Digger Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) (source)

Pure Green Sweat Bee (Augochlora pura) (source)

Norton’s Nomia (Nomia nortoni) (source)

Eastern Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis) (female, but there is also a photo of a male in the source)

Sacken’s Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla sackenii) (this is what Bambi was, but I don’t remember what exact species Cupcake was) (source)

[canisvesperus]

Yo, do you watch ants Canada? I feel like with your interest in spiders, Ant colonies might be cool to you too! Also the person who runs it has a greenbottle blue tarantula named Azula that's so pretty omg. Idk what you might need warnings for, so I'll say there's some decernable meat products, given the carnivorous nature of some of the colonies, so if you need more info to check it out just hmu! I watch a lot of them

Yeah, I’ve seen a few of their videos! My interest in hobbyist keeping has waned for various reasons, but I still certainly love the animals. Ants are cool, though (controversial stance) I kind of prefer wasps. Here’s a little Dasymutilla sackenii velvet ant (actually a wasp, though wasps and ants are closely related) I found two weeks ago at the stables.

[onenicebugperday]

@from-rain-to-rainbow submitted: Could you please ID this fluffy little friend? She's so cute

Tijuana, Baja California, México

I can! She's a female velvet ant, which is a type of wasp. Females are wingless, but their sting is VERY painful, so don't handle them with your bare hands unless you want to hate your life. This one in particular looks like Sacken's velvet ant, Dasymutilla sackenii. :)

[onenicebugperday]

Sacken’s Velvet Ant, Dasymutilla sackenii, Mutillidae

Sacken’s velvet ant is not an ant, but a type of wasp. Females are wingless and resemble large, fuzzy ants; males look similar but have wings (photos 9-10). Velvet ants are known for their extremely painful sting, so it’s wise to avoid handling them with bare skin (as in photo above). This species is found mainly in California, but its range extends down into Baja.

Photo 1 by kueda, 2-3 by dlbowls, 4 by condylura, 5 by micrathene, 6 by kerry_ross, 7-8 by tempetoon, and 9-10 by edwardrooks