One day we were on a hike in Georgia and Gary spotted this beautiful
red velvet ant. I never heard of one before that day. What beautiful coloring this one has; it's an
Eastern red velvet ant.
The
red velvet ant isn't an ant but is a wasp. It looks like an ant and it crawled along the ground just like one though. This red velvet ant was about three quarter's of an inch long. I had a hard time capturing it with my camera; following it's progress for quite some time.
The female red velvet ant is wingless, only the males have wings. Apparently the red velvet ant female packs a extremely painful sting. I kept a respectful distance since this was probably a female. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.
We had a couple of them here last year. I didn't know about the sting, but wasn't about to touch her anyway. Nature is pretty amazing!
ReplyDeleteit seems the pretties bugs pack the most powerful stings!
ReplyDeleteApparently Ohio is in its range, but I have never seen one. Pretty little beast.
ReplyDeleteWow. That colour is a warning - beauty and bite in the same package. Thank you for this - I loved her.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen one before but it is beautiful. Thanks for the warning to be careful around them.
ReplyDeletebeautiful...I would never have guessed it was a wasp.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennie, thanks, I nearly missed this one but Gary was really observant.
ReplyDeleteHi Michele, thanks, oh so true, a real beauty though.
Hi Joanne, thanks, first time I ever saw one.
Hi Elephant's child, thanks, glad I could get it on my camera to show.
Hi Lori, thanks, so strange it's a wasp but looks so much like a huge ant.
Hi Dee, thanks, I never would have guessed either till I looked it up. Ha.