Dasymutilla
Dasymutilla is a wasp genus belonging to the family Mutillidae. Their larvae are external parasites to various types of ground-nesting Hymenoptera. Most of the velvet ants in North Americathe wingless females of which are conspicuous as colorful, fast, and "fuzzy" bugsare in the genus Dasymutilla.
Selected species
- D. albiceris
- D. alesia
- D. arachnoides
- D. archboldi
- D. arenivaga
- D. asopus
- D. aureola
- D. bioculata
- D. californica
- D. calorata
- D. chattahoochei
- D. chiron
- D. chisos
- D. coccineohirta
- D. creon
- D. creusa
- D. dilucida
- D. eminentia
- D. fasciventroides
- D. flammifera
- D. foxi
- D. gibbosa
- D. gloriosa
- D. gorgon
- D. heliophila
- D. klugii
- D. leda
- D. lepeletierii
- D. magnifica
- D. meracula
- D. monticola
- D. montivagoides
- D. mutata
- D. munifica
- D. nigricauda
- D. nigripes
- D. nitidula
- D. nocturna
- D. nogalensis
- D. occidentalis
- D. pseudopappus
- D. pyrrhus
- D. quadriguttata
- D. sackenii
- D. santanas
- D. scaevola
- D. scitula
- D. sicheliana
- D. stevensi
- D. thetis
- D. vesta
- ''D. vestita''
Defenses
Many species within this genus exhibit Müllerian mimicry. There is an eastern mimicry ring, which includes D. occidentalis and D. vesta, and there is the western mimicry ring, which includes many other species. The effect is to warn off predators by shared aposematic coloration without requiring inexperienced predators to taste and be stung by members of each species separately.
Aside from their aposematic coloration, they can produce a loud squeaking noise which also warns potential predators. Their exoskeleton is remarkably strong; experiments concluded that 11 times more force was needed to crush the exoskeleton of a female velvet ant than that of a honey bee.