General: Magnificent Velvet Ants (Dasymutilla magnifica) are hairy, ant-like creatures that are actually wasps. Females are flightless and run quickly on the ground, while males have wings and fly. Magnificent Velvet Ants have red hairs on the abdomen and black hairs on the rest of the body, including the legs. Magnificent Velvet Ants are the largest velvet ant in the southwestern deserts.

Velvet ants are not aggressive and will try to escape if chased, but if caught, females can pack one heck of a sting. Females can produce a squeaking sound when disturbed.

Taxonomy: Class Insecta, Order Hymenoptera, Suborder Apocrita, Super Family Vespoidea, Family Mutillidae

Magnificent Velvet Ants occur throughout the desert southwest (including coastal southern California) and also down in central Mexico.

Adults feed on nectar. The immature stages are parasites, mostly of ground-nesting bees and wasps. Velvet ants prefer sandy soils where their prey are likely to be found.

There are some 400 species of velvet ants in the southwestern deserts. Most are nocturnal, but keep an eye out for Magnificent Velvet Ants and White Velvet Ants, which are seen during the day around Las Vegas.