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Red-haired Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla aureola

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33.167, -117.052

Field Notes

Description:

Bright red, fuzzy, wingless wasp. The legs, face and underside are black. "Females wingless, very hairy, and may look like large ants but have no node (bump) on "waist" between abdomen and thorax (ants have one or two). Males winged, less hairy, look more like typical wasps, larger than females" This species can be differentiated by D. vestita by the size of its head compared to the rest of the body.

Habitat:

Walking across trail in chaparral

Reference Links:

Species Dasymutilla aureola - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (5)
CindyBinghamKeiser
Thank you Leuba! This pretty girl stuck out in the brown chaparral but I could have stepped on her if I wasn't looking down.
CindyBinghamKeiser
Thank you J and Antonio! I was flat on the ground for this wasp (my kids thought I was crazy). Unfortunately we had just hit the trail and I didn't even get to check the settings on my camera before spotting her. These are the only one's that weren't completely blurry but I'm just happy to see one!

Spotted for Missions

Mission
The Color Red
Mission
Southern California Wildlife
Mission
Mimetic Animals of the World

Tags

Photographed
PublishedApril 13, 2013

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