''Dasymutilla'' is a wasp genus belonging to the family

Mutillidae The Mutillidae are a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be ...

. Their larvae are external parasites to various types of ground-nesting Hymenoptera. Members of this genus are highly variable in sting intensity, ranging from a 1 ('' D. thetis'') to a 3 ('' D. klugii'') in the

Schmidt sting pain index The Schmidt sting pain index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt (born 1947), an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona, United Sta ...

Selected Species

* ''D. alesia'' * ''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. foxi'' * ''D. gibbosa'' * ''D. gloriosa'' (thistledown velvet ant) * ''D. gorgon'' * ''D. heliophila'' * ''D. klugii'' * ''D. lepeletierii'' * ''D. magnifica'' * ''D. meracula'' * ''D. monticola'' * ''D. mutata'' * ''D. nigricauda'' * ''D. nigripes'' * ''D. nitidula'' * ''D. nocturna'' * ''D. nogalensis'' * ''D. occidentalis'' (cow killer) * ''D. pyrrhus'' * ''D. quadriguttata'' * ''D. sackenii'' * ''D. scaevola'' * ''D. sicheliana'' * ''D. thetis'' * ''D. vesta'' * ''D. vestita''

Defenses

Certain members of this genus are known for their painful and venomous sting. On the Starr sting pain scale, at least one velvet ant species (''

Dasymutilla klugii ''Dasymutilla'' is a wasp genus belonging to the family Mutillidae. Their larvae are external parasites to various types of ground-nesting Hymenoptera. Members of this genus are highly variable in sting intensity, ranging from a 1 ('' D. th ...

'') outscored 58 species of wasps and bees in the painfulness of its sting, falling short of only the bullet ant (''

Paraponera clavata ''Paraponera clavata'' is a species of ant, commonly known as the bullet ant, named for its extremely painful sting. It inhabits humid lowland rainforests in Central and South America. Etymology The specific epithet of the ant, ', means "club- ...

''), the warrior wasp ('' Synoeca septentrionalis''), and the

tarantula hawk A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera ''Pepsis'' and ''Hemipepsis.'' They are one of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze the ...

(genus ''

Pepsis ''Pepsis'' is a genus of spider wasps belonging to the family Pompilidae. Species within this genus are also called tarantula hawks, as they usually hunt tarantulas, similarly to many species in the genus '' Hemipepsis''. These wasps are rest ...

''). Many species within this genus exhibit

Müllerian mimicry Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and sharing common predators, have come to mimic each other's honest warning signals, to their mutual benefit. The benefit to Mülleria ...

. 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 Aposematism is the advertising by an animal to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defences which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste o ...

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 An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

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.

References

* * * * Mutillidae Hymenoptera genera Taxa named by William Harris Ashmead {{apocrita-stub