Cow Killer

Types of Wasps and Bees Types of Bees Wasps

The colorful name for the colorful wasp is the story of legend wherever it is told.

Sometimes the name Cow Killer is used loosely to apply to any one of the fifty or so Dasymutilla species in the Velvet Ant family ().

Used in a stricter sense, the Cow Killer refers to a single species, Dasymutilla occidentalis, and the name come from the story that the sting of the wingless female is so severe that it could kill a cow.

It's a fairly large species that inhabits the sandy soils of the Southeast and Midwest. The top picture shows a wingless female at about a 3x magnification.

The bottom picture shows a winged male that is almost scaled to size.

© 2009 Patricia A. Michaels