We looked it over for a minute or so, marveling at such an elegant insect and then let it fly away. Only male velvet ants have wings and, of course, male wasps and bees don’t sting.

One of the most striking examples is the desert-dwelling thistledown velvet ant, which may be mimicking the fluffy white seed cases of the creosote bush, which is found in the same habitats. It can be ...

The species in question is Traumatomutilla bifurca, a type of velvet ant – which is, somewhat confusingly, actually a species of wasp. Some of these wasps don't have any wings, but they do have ...