Maybe I have my first Queen Ant?!?!?

[UndefinedJRod]

Hey guys, I live in Florida and I think that I caught a queen ant. Here are some pictures, can I get an identification?

[LasiusSapien]

Dasymutilla vesta - female - While it initially looks like an ant, this is actually a species of small flightless wasp

[UndefinedJRod]

Woah woah woah woah woah, you mean to tell me that I walked for 3 hours straight to pick up and NURTURE a damn flight LESS wasp??!? I have so many pictures of it— so many pictures. This is traumatizing experience for me and now I have a flightless wasp in my drawer at home and... OMG THE KIDS ARE HOME!!!

[LasiusSapien]

indeed it does appear to be, the fly like legs and lack of a joint in the antenna and the big a bulky exoskeleton, colours and markings all point to a wasp though i'm no expert and could be wrong

[DeiaFormica]

http://bogleech.com/bio-parasitoids.htm

If you scroll down a bit, this site claims that what you have is a "cow-killer" or "velvet ant"

These are indeed flightless wasps, and they also have excruciating stings. If you're not interested in keeping it, I highly recommend you release it in a secluded area where people don't normally go.

[UndefinedJRod]

Yeah, I am definitely so lucky I used the tube to catch it. I was about to grab it with my bare hands because you know, Mikey does it like that and well I chickened out. WHICH MEANS THAT CHICKENING OUT SAVED MY LIFE. Let that be a lesson for all of you. I would recommend that timidity should become prioritized as a highly attractive attribute and should be sought out.

On another note, I will never leave my house again. Harboring that killing machine in my home besides my bed for 3 days is the closest I ever want to get to the 2nd Amendment, and no I'm not one of those "Yeah a shark bit me but I respect the water and still enjoy the beach" type people so you can bet your bottom dollar that I will NEVER return to the Arboretum in my area again. I already released it in my front yard before reading the post above and as you guessed, the lawn removal company passes by at 3 today because I'm pretty sure that thing kill my neighbor's cat.

Remember folks, Ant love forever!

[CabboAntsGuy]

Starts raising a colony of killer wasps...