MutillidaeAglaotilla Bothriomutilla rugicollis (Mutillid Wasp) Dasymutillini Ephutomorpha ferruginata

Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), describes a species in the family Mutillidae, that are collectively known as “Velvet Ants”. These insects are a group of wasps whose female members are wingless, and have the appearance of large hairy ants.

Also known as Mutillid Wasps, there are more than 7,000 species of wasps whose common name is Velvet Ants, which references their covering of dense hair. They als, can vary in colour from a bright scarlet, orange, black, white, silver or gold. These colours serve as “aposematic signals” (a warning visual signal of bright colours and high-contrast patterns indicating a noxious prey).

Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs
Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs

I found this Velvet Ant, along our seasonal creek, in the same spot as the one in my last post – my second sighting. I’d never heard of them before. They were both wingless females, which lay their eggs on the immature stages of their hosts, such as wasps and bees, to parasitize them. The larvae will then eat the host’s body.

Source: Lorna Hobbs

Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs
Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs
Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs
Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs
  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Hexapoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Superfamily: Vespoidea
  • Family: Mutillidae
  • Subfamily: Sphaeropthalminae
  • Genus: Ephutomorpha
  • Species: Ephutomorpha ferruginata
  • Subspecies:
    • Ephutomorpha ferruginata ferruginata (Westwood, 1843)
    • Ephutomorpha ferruginata melanota (André, 1896)

Footnote & References

  1. Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha ferruginata), Swanpool, NE Country VIC © Lorna Hobbs
  2. Many thanks to Di Bickers for ID, member of Australian Polistinae and other Hymenoptera, https://www.facebook.com/groups/188453645581988
  3. Ephutomorpha ferruginata (Westwood, 1843), Atlas of Living Australia,, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Ephutomorpha ferruginata

MutillidaeAglaotilla Bothriomutilla rugicollis (Mutillid Wasp) Dasymutillini Ephutomorpha ferruginata

WaspsWasps Index Australian Large Wasps Australian Mud Nest Wasps Mud Wasp Velvet Ants Abispa ephippium Acarozumia amaliae Aulacidae Australodynerus Bembix Bembicinae Bethylidae Blue Hairy Flower Wasp Braconidae Chrysididae Cryptocheilus Delta latreillei (Potter Wasp) Delta philantes Eumeninae Euodynerus aspra Ferreola handschini (Orange-collared Spider Wasp) Flower Wasps Gasteruptiid Wasp Hairy Flower Wasps Isodontia (Grass-carrying Wasp) Lissopimpla excelsa (Orchid Dupe Wasp) Mutillidae Orange Wasps Paralastor sp. Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides Radumeris radula (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Radumeris tasmaniensis (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Sceliphron laetum Sphex Thynnid Wasps Tiphiidae Torymus Yellow and Black Wasp

InsectsBees Beetles Blattodea Butterflies Coleoptera Cicada Crabronidae Diptera Dragonflies & Damselflies Formicidae Hemiptera Heteroptera Moths Orthoptera Orthopteroid Processionary Caterpillar Stink Bugs, Shield Bugs and Allies Wasps Water Scorpion (Laccotrephes tristis) Witchetty Grub