Velvet ants

[Lane]

Has anybody had problems with velvet ants? I haven't seen one in my hives only outside.

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[Lane]

Just wanted to add this.
Mutillidae are a family of wasps whose wingless females resemble ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their dense hair which may be red, black, white, silver, or gold. They are known for their extremely painful sting, facetiously said to be strong enough to kill a cow, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant is applied to some species.They invade the nests of wasps and bees so their integument is very tough and roughly textured to protect against stings. Like related families in the Vespoidea, males have wings but females are wingless.

[Jacobs]

I've seen a few in the general area where a friend has hives, but I have never seen one at/in a hive. The ones I see are always the wingless ones and are lone walkers. Unless they have some major behavior problem that I've never heard of, I wouldn't think they would be much of a threat--probably less than the periodic visit (not major attack) of a European Hornet taking worker bees to feed its young.

[SmithN]

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/ ... et_ant.htm

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef442.asp

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/current_ipm/03PestN ... ident.html