Run, Run, Hither and Thither

  It is that time of year again when the bugs seem to take over the place.  If they are not smacking you in the head, they are climbing up your leg.  Living on the Bayou, it is a never-ending battle just to keep ahead of the invasions. Last summer, there seemed to be an enormous amount of velvet ants and this summer is starting out much the same.  The velvet ants are better known in the Deep South as cow-killer ants.  Both are misnomers as...first of all, they do not kill cows and secondly, they are not even ants. These critters are actually wasps. The females are, however, fuzzy which makes them soft and velvety looking...just don't try to pet one as then you may fully believe that cow-killer name. These things can pack a wallop of a sting.

  This afternoon saw me out photographing a velvet ant female.  The ones that run hither and thither about the yard and are bright red and black are females.  Most folks do not recognize the males so they sort of lump the sexes together thinking they look alike.  Nope, the male looks like a wasp.  The female's erratic running serves a purpose other than making her a hard photography target.  She is hunting for other ground wasp nests.  The female is a fearless predator who is on a mission.  She lays her eggs in the nests of other ground wasps.  When her egg hatches, it not only feeds upon the paralyzed insect that the original nest builder placed there as food for its little ones, it feeds on the host wasp larva.  There is no pride when it comes to a velvet ant larva. They eat just about anything.  

  Back to that purported cow-killing sting.  No, it does not kill you but it allegedly hurts like crazy.  I cannot attest to this as I have never been stung by one.  Growing up on the farm, my siblings and I used to catch the females and, later when I had kids, I let them catch the insects.  None of us were ever on the receiving end of any vicious stings.  Obviously, the critters did not wish to expend the energy as they were more interested in escaping our hands.  The beauties had more important things to attend. 

  I do think these critters are some of the prettier insects that are plaguing the place.  I just hope the old dog does not accidentally step on one so I carefully shooed this one back into the garden where the old dog rarely goes.  There she can be free to live as she wishes.