MYN / Mac Stone / Cow killer velvet ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis) Everglades NP, Florida, USA, June. meetyourneighbours.net project

Barry Mansell / Velvet ant (Mutillidae) female, North Carolina, USA

Solvin Zankl / Velvet ant / Flightless wasp {Mutillidae} on sand dune, Namib Desert, Namibia

David Welling / Red Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla magnifica) female on mesquite tree branch skeleton, Rio Grande Valley, Texas, USA

PREMAPHOTOS / Velvet-ant / mutillid wasp (Hoplomutilla opima) warningly coloured, in rainforest, Trinidad

PREMAPHOTOS / Cow killer velvet-ant mutillid wasp (Dasymutilla occidentalis) female, South Carolina, USA

Premaphotos / Cow killer velvet-ant mutillid wasp (Dasymutilla occidentalis) female climbing grass stalk, South Carolina, USA

Pete Oxford / Velvet ant (wingless wasp) {Mutillidae} Ankarana SR, Madagascar

Grant Maslowski / Velvet ant (Dasymutilla pulchra) resting on moss-covered log, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Controlled conditions.

Grant Maslowski / Velvet ant (Dasymutilla pulchra) resting on moss-covered log, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Controlled conditions.

Jiri Lochman / Flower wasp (Thynninae sp.) wingless female, burrowing in sand in search of prey after mating, Yalgorup National Park, south of Mandurah, Western Australia.

Joel Sartore / Photo Ark / Velvet ant (Dasymutilla sp.) portrait, Las Vegas Springs Preserve, Nevada, USA. Captive.