Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are among the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing metazoan life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species occur in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group, the crustaceans.
Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognised species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects. The hindwings are connected to the forewings by a series of hooks called hamuli.
Vespoidea is a superfamily of order Hymenoptera of class Insecta, although older taxonomic schemes may vary in this categorization, particularly in their recognition of a now-obsolete superfamily Scolioidea. The members of this group are wasps and ants.
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist.
Mutillidae are a family of wasps whose wingless females resemble ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their dense hair which may be red, black, white, silver, blue, or gold. Their bright colours serve as aposematic signals. They are known for their extremely painful sting, facetiously said to be strong enough to kill a cow, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant is applied to some species. Unlike a real ant, they do not have drones, workers, and queens.
The earliest-known velvet ants are specimens from the Dominican Republic preserved in amber some 25 to 40 million years ago.
The cow killer ant, or velvet ant, is not even an ant at all. It is, in fact, a wasp measuring approximately 1 inch in length. The females of this species do not have wings and can sting, causing a considerable amount of pain. The males, which are winged, cannot sting and are completely harmless. This wasp has been nick-named 'cow killer ant' due to it appearing as though it was a very large ant, and the severity of its sting. However, despite its reputation, it is not likely to kill anybody, unless you happen to be allergic to them. They move about by themselves and do not colonize like ants, so the easiest way to deal with them is to not walk barefoot around them.
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