The Cow Killer Ant is also known as Velvet Ant or Red Wasp. While called "ant," it is actually a wingless female wasp that can inflict a painful sting. The male wasp does have the advantage of flight.

The sting of a red velvet ant is up there in “you won’t die, you just wish you could” territory. Dr. Justin Schmidt’s sting pain index ranks it at 3 out of 4, with 4 being the most painful.

If you see a velvet ant with wings, rest assured, it is a male. Although capable of flight, males are incapable of stinging, as they lack stingers.

My friend and I both saw a bright red fuzzy insect on the ground. Never saw anything like it before! She thinks it’s an ant, but I think it’s a wasp. What say you?Red velvet ants are wasps ...

Only male velvet ants have wings and, of course, male wasps and bees don’t sting. Whit Gibbons is professor of zoology and senior biologist at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River ...

Cow killer ants (Dasymutilla occidentalis), also called red velvet ants and eastern velvet ants, are a species of velvet ant. Velvet ants are wasps, but named for their fuzzy, often wingless ...

Adult red velvet ants can grow to about 3/4 of an inch in length and are covered with patterns of black and reddish/orange hair. If you see one, it’s likely a female because the females are ...

The email from Trip Lamb, biology professor at Eastern Carolina University, said, “As a velvet ant sting survivor, you may appreciate the attached.” The attachment was a scientific paper titled ...