The Mutillidae (Velvet Ants) is a cosmopolitan but essentially tropical family. It contains about 5000 species distributed into seven subfamilies: Mutillinae, Myrmillinae, Myrmosinae, Pseudophotopsidinae, Rhopalomutillinae, Sphaerophtalminae and Ticoplinae.
Adult are generally heavily pubescent, females are generally wingless with males often much larger and winged. Female often possess a powerful sting.
The larvae are ectoparasitoids of enclosed larvae or pupae of mainly other Aculeata but also Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Blattodea
Click on the thumbnails below for larger images and biology for each species illustrated.
| Mutillinae |
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Radoszkowskius
sp.1 |
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Mutilla sp.2 |
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BUGS FOR THE AMATEUR
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| Hymenoptera:Apocrita (Aculeata):Vespoidea:Mutillidae |
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