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Red Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla aureola

Published on Project Noah
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33.167, -117.052

Field Notes

Description:

Brilliant red, female, wingless wasp with black legs, underside and antennae. They're solitary wasps and are usually seen crossing a trail.

Habitat:

Mixed oak forest. This is one of four velvet ants that we saw on a hike.

Notes:

Spotted by one of my teen nature enthusiasts :)

Reference Links:

Species Dasymutilla aureola - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (21)
Mark Ridgway
Nice shots Cindy. Love the two-tone glitter effect.
CindyBinghamKeiser
He he. No but there's apparently a yellow which is now on my list to spot.
Jolly Ibañez
Wow! red and white velvet ants. Do you have a purple one? hehe Beautiful spottings Cindy
CindyBinghamKeiser
Thank you all for the comments! This beautiful wasp was just screaming for attention with her shiny, red hair :)
RiekoS
I have never seen this ant before. Thank you for sharing.
CindyBinghamKeiser
Thank you for the comments! The common name is deceiving in that this is actually a wingless wasp.
Sckel
gorgeous as she shines
CindyBinghamKeiser
Thank you Debbie. This was the most brilliant colored wasp I've seen :)
Debbie Stewart
Brilliant spotting, love the vibrance of the red and great photos cindy.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
The Color Red
Mission
Southern California Wildlife
Mission
Save Our Oaks - San Diego
Mission
Wondrous Wasps of Southern California
Mission
The Bug Chicks Sofa Safari

Tags

Photographed
PublishedMay 19, 2013

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