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The "Velet Ant" is a tough one to kill.True it's a wasp with out wings but also true is it's reputation for killing cows. Sometimes when a cow is grazing they'll slurp up one of these bad girls and it'll sting the cow in the throat. Sometimes resulting in enough swelling to actually cause death. When disturbed she'll shake violently causing a rattle sound. If you try to step on it to kill it-Good Luck. Her stinger is like a surgical instrument so be careful around them. The male flies low to the ground in search of her to mate.Thank goodness he has no stinger. I lived in Baltiomore for years and never saw any but in Florida I see em quite often.
can any one tell me what this bug is? i have tried to find it on google images and couldn't find anything. I'm in twin falls, Idaho and we just moved into this home and found several of them so far. http://a655.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...9908911456.jpg
Her stinger is like a surgical instrument so be careful around them.
Okay, Dutch, I knew by reading that page you linked to was going to be a mistake. Creepy, but informative. Also, it's been over a year this thread started, and in that time I've moved to NC and haven't seen one cowkiller. I might find it interesting providing my cats don't find one roaming through the house (we've had several black wasps creep in and, fortunately, our cats attacked them without being stung). A cowkiller's sting sounds like they would take out our precious felines.
Okay, maybe I can live never encountering one. I went to the coast and visited some friends and came across a black cottonmouth snake. Aggressive buggers. I don't need to encounter one of those ever again, either. Though in the San Gabriel mountains in California, during my history of hiking there, I've run across around three or four diamond back rattlers. Fortunately, never a bite, attempted strike or anything else (which really only proved that I could run faster than they could at reacting, apparently).
Mosquitos and wasps, ants and more ants have been the biggest problem in our home life since moving to NC. I'm getting sick of the ants!
I'm in the mountains of Southern California (about a mile high), and I've seen two of these "velvet ants" that I can remember. The ones I've seen were all red, about 3/4 to 1 inch long. They were very interesting to watch, just because they were so different from everything else I've seen.
actually in the northern sierras where I grew up. Also met quite a few diamondbacks as part of my early teens were on a 20 ac. lot. Snakes are easy as long as you dont startle them or chase them Now in TN after 20 years in NY
I've seen a few velvet ants here (Sierra Nevada). Just steer clear and they should be fairly harmless.
About a year ago I got up one morning, opened my front door, and a Pine Sawyer fell and nearly landed on me. The damn thing must have been 4 inches long...bigger then any June Bug or Rain Beetle I've seen. It was pretty nasty.
When I was younger, I used to play with bugs all the time. I came upon one of these, and thinking it was an ant, tried to pick it up. Big mistake! That sting hurt like hell, much worse than a regular bee sting. Of course, I was young so maybe my memory is skewed, but since then I give these things a wide berth.
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It was huge and pretty scary.
I have also seen the fuzzy red (bee?) in Calif.
Now in TN after 20 years in NY
