Velvet Ant

wasp · painful sting · colorful insect · solitary

Bright fuzzy colors. Velvet ants wear bold colors like scarlet, orange, black, white, silver, or gold. These eye-catching outfits warn other animals to stay away, like a neon sign saying "don't touch me!"

Extremely painful sting. When a velvet ant stings, the pain is absolutely intense and unforgettable, which is why some people call them "cow killers." But here's the thing: their venom isn't actually more toxic than a honey bee's or harvester ant's venom is.

Peaceful unless provoked. Despite their fearsome reputation, velvet ants are not aggressive at all. They only sting if you grab them or step on them to defend themselves.

Live alone, not in groups. Unlike true ants that live in huge colonies with queens and workers, velvet ants are solitary insects with no complex social systems. Each one lives and hunts on its own.

Actually wasps, not ants. Even though they're called velvet ants, they're actually a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps. The females don't have wings, which is why they look so much like ants.