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🐝 Ants, Bees & Wasps

Malagasy Velvet Ant

Dasymutilla madagascariensis

About

Despite its name, this is actually a wingless female wasp covered in dense, velvety orange and black hair. Males are winged and rarely seen.

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Did You Know?

Its sting is legendarily painful, earning velvet ants the nickname 'cow killers' in some regions, though the sting is not actually lethal.