Paul Bertner / Velvet Ant (Mutillidae) with its mimic, the Corinnid Sac Spider (Graptartia granulosa), Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania

Paul Bertner / Velvet Ant (Mutillidae) with its mimic, the Corinnid Sac Spider (Graptartia granulosa), Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania

Paul Bertner / Velvet Ant (Mutillidae) with its mimic, the Corinnid Sac Spider (Graptartia granulosa), Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania

Paul Bertner / Velvet Ant (Mutillidae) with its mimic, the Corinnid Sac Spider (Graptartia granulosa), Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania

John Abbott / Cow killer velvet ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis) on white background, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, USA September

Chien Lee / Velvet Ant (Mutillidae), a wasp that mimicks ants, female, Malaysia

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