Found this "cow Killer"

carver

Senior Member
AKA Velvet Wasp (Mutillidae)while at Bell Mountain
 

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wvdawg

Moderator
Staff member
Sweet! Hard to photo those things - they are always moving!
 

Nicodemus

The Recluse
Staff member
They`re plentiful down here. Don`t EVER let one sting you.

Nice shots.
 

carver

Senior Member
Thanks guys,read they have a stinger half their body length,that would make this one have a stinger about an inch long
 

rip18

Senior Member
Those guys (gals) are always on the go - so hard to get a shot of... Well done!
 

GAJoe

Senior Member

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Big7

The Oracle
Have not seen one in years..

Don't want to either.

Pre-teen, not knowing any better, we used to cut
them in half with a pocket knife and watch them still
try to sting something. facepalm:

Thousand wonders one of us didn't get stung.

Cool pics though! :cheers:
 

Nicodemus

The Recluse
Staff member
Here`s a shot of a male that I got yesterday.
 

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GAJoe

Senior Member
Cool! never saw one.
 
B

BornNRaised

Guest
Saw one at a jobsite on Lanier last year. My cousin got stung by one years ago.... They dont call them "cow killers" for nothing!
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
They're pretty fascinating critters. The female crawls into an underground bumblebee nest and lays her eggs, where they hatch and start eating the bumblebee larvae.
 

wvdawg

Moderator
Staff member
I have a Riker mount box somewhere with 6 or 7 winged specimens in it - need to see if I can find it.
 

carver

Senior Member
Saw a lot of them when I was a kid,but were much smaller than this guy (hadn't seen one in years till I moved up here (in the mountains)and have seen 3 in the last month,and they were all BIG ones
 

walkinboss01

Senior Member
I stepped on one bare footed and thought I'd stepped on a nail. Boy did it get my attention.
 
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