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Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla sp.

Photo by Coyote Jim
Published on Project Noah
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28.5775, -81.2026

Field Notes

Description:

About a 1/2" long, mostly a dark red with black and white stripes on the rear of its gaster. They seem solitary, I've only ever seen one at a time.

Habitat:

I see them all the time in the yard around my house.

Species ID Suggestions

Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla sp.

Comments (4)

Welcome to Project Noah, jdlillyiii We hope you like the site as much we do; there are many features you can explore: We invite you to go to http://www.projectnoah.org/faq where you will find the purpose and “rules” of Project Noah. There is a blog http://blog.projectnoah.org/ where we post articles from spotters with special insight into different organisms. There are also the chats for help with identification, and to comment on your own and others’ spottings. Look at the global and local missions to put your spottings into: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions Enjoy yourself here, see you around!
Yeah, there are so many similar looking species in Florida.
That is a type of Velvet Ant, but unsure of the species. They are actually wasps and not ants. Their common name is the Velvet Ant because the females are wingless.

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