Credit: DrSarahJensen/Flickr/Featured Creature
Panda ants are members of the family Mutillidae, a family of wasps, commonly known as velvet ants, in which the females are flightless & resemble large, hairy ants. Colour is most commonly bright scarlet or orange. Other colours include black, white, silver & gold, or as in the panda ant, black & white. Panda ants are native to Chile.
Velvet ants are also known as, “cow killer ants”, as anecdote has it that they are able to bring down a cow with relatively few stings.
http://www.ourbreathingplanet.com/panda-ant/
http://blogspot.obsessionbiology.com/2011/12/case-of-panda-ant.html
http://pandaant.org/
http://pandaant.org/panda-ant-facts/
http://featuredcreature.com/this-panda-ant-will-bamboozle-you-about-its-true-identity/ / Euspinolia militaris nicknamed panda ant markings species of wingless wasp Red Velvet Ant cow killer painful sting subdue a grown cow wasp handle bright color aposematic signal related Red Velvet Ant painful sting exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism sexes mating male larger female species mating Tiphiidae nearly extinct species lays approximately 2000 eggs predators eat young panda ants hatch bright colors insect wingless wasp fully grown up to 8 millimeters in length 2-3 millimeters in height feed stenothermic thermophilic /
