Velvet Ants are not Ants

By Anupum Pant

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The velvet ant is know by that name because of the dense hair they have on their bodies. Some of them have black and white hair, those are popularly known as panda ants. They have extremely powerful stings and are also called as cow killer ants.

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Although so much about them seems like that of ants, these actually aren’t ants at all. With an unusually tough exoskeleton, these are actually a specie of wasps known as Mutillidae. The females of this variety have no wings and that’s the reason they look like ants.

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