Funny Panda Ants

The Mutillidae is a family of over 3,000 species of wasp (though the name) of a winged female resembling a large, hairy ant. The common name of velvet ants refers to their solid pile of hairs most often is bright red or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold. Black and white specimens are sometimes known as panda ants because their color hair resembles a Chinese giant panda. Their bright colors serve as aposematic signals. They are known for their very painful stings, then common name killer cattle or cow ants. Unlike real ants, they do not have drones, workers, and queens. However, velvet ants exhibit haplodiploid sex determination similar to other members of Vespoidea.