The Velvet Ant

January 23, 2016 9:54 AM

The Velvet Ant "A female velvet ant's legs are so powerful, she can use them to wrestle her way out of a predator's mouth. You might think that a bigger animal like a lizard could easily crush her in its jaws, but the velvet ant is too tough for that."
posted by dhruva (25 comments total)

Velvet ants are pretty cool! Good job, myrmecologists, for bringing us this important information
posted by clockzero at 10:12 AM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

i wanna see her fight paul rudd
posted by poffin boffin at 10:28 AM on January 23, 2016 [7 favorites]

I want to see her fight Velvet the reindeer.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:52 AM on January 23, 2016

when insect collectors try to pin down a dead velvet ant, they often miss because the pin glances off and pierces their finger.

So even in death, velvet ants exact their revenge on mankind. I'm impressed.
posted by kozad at 10:54 AM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

I am completely ok with Velvet Ants. All wasps should be grounded. They still have a fighting chance with the stingers, but being after to come after me after I run away after accidentally disturbing a nest, that's just not fair.
posted by Hactar at 11:51 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

And we don't even know why (in the sense of what advantage does it confer?) they have all that hair.

Given how defense-oriented all the other weird stuff about them seems to be, maybe the hairs are irritating to the eyes the way tarantula hairs are -- and in that case the squeaking, which is produced by a stridulating mechanism similar to the one crickets have, might serve to launch the hairs with vibrations and act as a Pavlovian conditioning stimulus for predators who might not otherwise associate their irritated eyes and messing with a velvet ant.
posted by jamjam at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2016

You know, this is my kind of insect. Pretty to look at, kills other creepies, generally wants to be left alone. Then again, I don't have a house full of them, which doesn't sound likely even in their home range.
posted by maxwelton at 12:49 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Now I finally understand another thing that cLOUDDEAD saw when they were hanging out at a Radioinactive video shoot. My life just got incrementally better.
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 1:21 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Despite being deathly afraid of wasps and hornets, I'm pretty cool with velvet ants. Like Hactar says, they can't come zooming after you for accidentally stumbling on their nest, which makes it a lot easier to have a live-and-let-live attitude toward them.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:22 PM on January 23, 2016

As I accidentally posted in another thread, I see these all the time in the SoCal foothills. I called them cow killers. I knew they were wasps, but I now know much more than I did about them. Thanks for posting!
posted by persona au gratin at 1:43 PM on January 23, 2016

I've seen a few of these over the years here in Virginia. They call them Cow Killers here. Their sting is NO JOKE!
posted by Muncle at 1:43 PM on January 23, 2016

I also see lots of tarantula hawk wasps, and tarantulas, of course. Lots of cool wildlife.
posted by persona au gratin at 1:44 PM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Muncle: have you been stung by them? I've heard that it's like bullet ant level of pain. So I'm very careful around them.
posted by persona au gratin at 1:45 PM on January 23, 2016

Awesome
posted by From Bklyn at 2:10 PM on January 23, 2016

Strong muscular legs. Covered in hair. Sting is excruciating but not deadly. Too tough to eat. Makes an irritating shrieky noise when under threat. Basically so difficult no one can be bothered to prey on it. Life. Fucking. Goals.
posted by gingerest at 2:52 PM on January 23, 2016 [7 favorites]

Look, you call a wasp a wasp, okay?

"Hey what's that buzzing?"

"Oh don't worry, its a giant flying murder ant."

See?
posted by Splunge at 3:32 PM on January 23, 2016

"I also see lots of tarantula hawk wasps... Lots of chitinous hate-beasts."
posted by tobascodagama at 4:20 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Strong muscular legs. Covered in hair. Sting is excruciating but not deadly. Too tough to eat. Makes an irritating shrieky noise when under threat. Basically so difficult no one can be bothered to prey on it. Life. Fucking. Goals.

What about mouth-feel?

Muncle: have you been stung by them? I've heard that it's like bullet ant level of pain. So I'm very careful around them.

Around a 3, apparently, so you really don't have anything to worry about. There's a nice bit about chemical makeup of insect venoms there as well.
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:01 PM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

This Dr. Justin Schmidt is the same Schmidt who developed the Schmidt Pain Scale, right? See this is why I study sap-sucking insects instead of stingy wasps, Schmidt.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 6:07 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

"These velvet ants suck the saliva from wasp larvae, without inflicting any visible damage upon them. 'Larval saliva is highly nutritious,' says Maria Cristina Lorenzi of the University of Turin, Italy."

What?!
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 6:14 PM on January 23, 2016

Around a 3, apparently, so you really don't have anything to worry about.

IT IS A THREE OUT OF FOUR
posted by flaterik at 9:23 PM on January 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

No, it's three out of four +, Bullet Ant (4+) > Tarantula Hawk(4).

Mind you it would be nice to see confirmation from other researchers that the scale is accurate.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:46 PM on January 23, 2016

I once saw a blue velvet ant with black stripes when I was a kid. The one I saw was bigger than a honeybee but smaller than a bumblebee. As I had read about velvet ants, I didn't mess with it.

The blue was incredible -- it was an iridescent electric blue. It was a very impressive creature.
posted by y2karl at 11:26 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

We have them here in Georgia; the red one from South Carolina looks like the same species. I have heard them called "cow killers" as well and the pain from their sting is greatly feared. I don't know anyone who has actually been stung by one, as everybody gives them a wide berth. So that aspect of their defense works well, even on humans. It was neat to learn more about them. I had no idea they were so widespread and varied in appearance.
posted by TedW at 5:39 AM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

They are also part of an incredible mimicry ring.
posted by dhruva at 7:30 AM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]