Thistledown Velvet Ant (female) (Dasymutilla pseudopappus)

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Photo by SargonR

Published on Project Noah

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29.2009, -102.916

Field Notes

Description:

Thistledown Velvet Ant spotted in crawling in the sand on the bank of the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park, TX. At first I thought this was just a tuft of fuzz blowing across the sand, but upon further inspection realized it was in fact a small insect!

Habitat:

While this specific Thistledown Velvet Ant was spotted in Big Bend National Park, TX, they range across Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico.

Notes:

Only females are wingless, and females can administer a very painful sting as a defense mechanism. Also, the females of this species are camouflaged by their resemblance to the fruit of Creosotebush, which occurs in the same habitats.

Reference Links:

Species Dasymutilla pseudopappus - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions