AboutEric R. Eaton Expertise I can answer most questions related to wasps, solitary bees, grasshoppers and katydids, beetles, cicadas, and spiders, and identification of "mystery bugs" in North America. No "what bit me?" or "what do I feed this bug in captivity?" questions please.
Experience Principal author, Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Professional entomologist employed previously at University of Massachusetts, Chase Studio, Inc., and Cincinnati Zoo; contract work for West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, Smithsonian Institution, and Portland (Oregon) State University.
Organizations Entomological Society of America, National Association of Science Writers
Publications Author, Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Missouri Conservationist magazine, Ranger Rick, Timeline (journal of the Ohio Historical Society). I have contributed to several books as well.
Education/Credentials Oregon State University, undergraduate major in entomology, did not receive degree.
Past/Present Clients Principal author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Smithsonian Institution (contract), Cincinnati Zoo (employer), Portland State University (contract), Chase Studio, Inc (employer), Arkansas Museum of Discovery (guest speaker). Currently seeking employment in a highly creative work environment with a media corporation or non-profit.
Question i live in east texas, and in my backyard, around 7:00 or 8:00 i found this bug that looked alot like an ant, except it's huge. it was at least an inch long. it was a firey orange/red color with black stripes. i read somewhere that it may be a Velvet Ant, but i don't think it had a stinger because my dog was playing with it and it didn't do anything to her. but i just noticed it crwaling in the yard because it's so big and brightly colored, and i'm not sure if it's dangerous or not.
Answer
Rachel:
It IS a velvet ant! Velvet ants are among my most favorite insects. The one you describe is most likely the "cow killer," Dasymutilla occidentalis. They cannot kill livestock, but the sting of the female is so painful it was once said that the pain alone could kill a cow:-)
Velvet ants are actually solitary, parasitic wasps. Females are wingless, and spend their time searching for the burrows of other solitary wasps. The female will lay an egg in that nest, and her larva will kill and eat the other larva. Male velvet ants have wings and can fly, but they often look very different from the females in their color pattern, too.
Velvet ants have very thick, hard shells to repel the attacks of the other wasps that are the velvet ants' hosts. The bright "warning colors" say, "don't mess with me, I can defend myself!"
