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Mating pair. Velvet ants (Mutillidae) are a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants.Their common name velvet ant refers to their resemblance to an ant, and their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold.
The blue ant (Diamma bicolor), also known as the blue-ant or bluebottle, is a species of flower wasp in the family Thynnidae. [1] It is the sole member of the genus Diamma and of the subfamily Diamminae. Despite its common name and wingless body, it is not an ant but rather a species of large, solitary, parasitic wasp. [2]
In species where both sexes are winged, males are similar in size to the females, but are much more slender. The males of species with wingless females, however, are often much larger than the females and have wings; the adults mate in the air, with the female carried by the male's genitalia.
Commonly mistaken for an ant because of its appearance and its common name, it is a parasitoid wasp species in which the females are wingless, as is true for all females of Mutillidae. It can be recognized by its distinctive coloring, black with bright red on the upper side of the head, thorax, and abdomen. [4]
The prey is paralysed with the female's sting, and an egg is laid on it so the wasp larva has a ready supply of food. As some of the ground-dwelling scarab species attacked by tiphiids are pests, some of these wasps are considered beneficial as biological control agents .
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants.Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, [2] [3] in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. [4]
Austroscolia soror is a species of scoliid wasp and a common insect found in eastern Australia. [1] This is one of several Australian species collectively referred to as a blue flower wasp , black flower wasp , or blue hairy flower wasp .
Lissopimpla excelsa, commonly known as the orchid dupe wasp, is a wasp of the family Ichneumonidae native to Australia. Although also found in New Zealand, where it is known as the dusky-winged ichneumonid, it has probably been introduced there. [1] However, another source states that it may be native to New Zealand. [2]