The thistledown velvet ant is one of nature’s strangest creatures

This creature is a misnomer cloaked in punk-style white fuzz. It's a misnomer because the unique animal is not an ant but a parasitic wasp native to the American Southwest's desert regions.

Females are wingless and superficially resemble ants. Males, on the other hand, have wings and a characteristic wasp colour scheme of orange and black.

This bright apparel serves as a warning to potential predators that the wasps are not to be crossed — velvet ants have the largest stingers of any bee or wasp (proportion to body length).

However, the female form has long remained a mystery. Females resemble the fuzzy seeds of the scrubby creosote bushes found in the wasps' habitat.

#UnitedStates #Nature #Wildlife #Bug #VelvetAnt

свернуть