A velvet ant? Half ant half wasp 🐜 🐝

I found one of these in the yard today and while my fiancé says omg what is that kill it! I grabbed my phone to give this little gal a photo op.
This is a velvet ant or some people call them cow killer ants. Although it is called an ant they are actually a ground wasp. The males have wings, but the females do not. They do have a very painful bite but they are not deadly to people or cows.

I tried to get some better pictures but this cow ant was unbelievably fast. I followed her all the way across my yard taking pictures.

It was pretty interesting to see my fiancé wanted me to kill it but they are almost impossible to kill any way plus every creature has its purposes. The cow ant eventually made its way across the yard and buried itself in some leaves 🍁🍂. I have only seen these a few times before even though they are indigenous to my area. They are solitary wasps and don't live in hives or nest like most wasps. Thanks for reading if you enjoy the outdoors and nature check out my posts.