The email from Trip Lamb, biology professor at Eastern Carolina University, said, “As a velvet ant sting survivor, you may appreciate the attached.” The attachment was a scientific paper titled “The ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. GrrlScientist writes about evolution, ecology, behavior and health. New research has found an insect species with markings that ...

Trip Lamb’s email said, “As a velvet ant sting survivor, you may appreciate the attached.” Trip is a biology professor at East Carolina University. The attachment was a scientific paper titled “The ...

Few creatures can tangle with a velvet ant and walk away unscathed. These ground-dwelling insects are not ants, but parasitic wasps known for their excruciating stings. Now researchers have discovered ...

The first thing to understand about velvet ants is that they are not, in fact, ants. They're wasps, some of which are wingless, and are named in part for their fluffy exteriors. About the size of a ...

Has a large, flashy, bright red-orange, fuzzy ant-like creature ever captured your attention? It may have been the infamous velvet ant — otherwise (fittingly) known as “cow killer” for the painful ...

At the foot of certain shrubs in the Mojave Desert, fluffy white motes skitter like tumbleweeds across the sand. Some are fruit: harmless, fuzzy orbs dropped by the creosote bush. Others are white ...