Weird Ant (Possibly not even an ant)

Help with identifying the species your ants

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Mbrownblue5
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2018 12:38 pm
Location: Georgia

Weird Ant (Possibly not even an ant)

Post: # 39038Post Mbrownblue5
Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:08 pm

Found this insect (hopefully an ant) on my families farm in Athens, Georgia. It is about to 5/8 of an inch long. Very aggressive, keeps trying to bite and eat it’s way through the cotton.Image https://m.imgur.com/gallery/Be4kmkJ

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SamuelMamuel
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2017 10:24 pm

Re: Weird Ant (Possibly not even an ant)

Post: # 39039Post SamuelMamuel
Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:13 pm

Mbrownblue5 wrote:
Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:08 pm
Found this insect (hopefully an ant) on my families farm in Athens, Georgia. It is about to 5/8 of an inch long. Very aggressive, keeps trying to bite and eat it’s way through the cotton.Image https://m.imgur.com/gallery/Be4kmkJ
That's a Velvet Ant, also known as a Cow Killer Wasp. So not an ant at all
Colonies:
--Tetramorium Caespitum
--Camponotus pennsylvanicus
--Formica Sp.

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Weird Ant (Possibly not even an ant)

Post: # 39055Post TheRealAntMan
Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:52 pm

Red velvet ant. But don’t be mistaken the Red velvet is a wasp not an ant. If I were you I would release as soon as possible because their stings hurt like crazy!!!!!
An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

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Jaraii
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2018 2:03 pm
Location: Colorado Springs

Re: Weird Ant (Possibly not even an ant)

Post: # 39061Post Jaraii
Wed Jun 27, 2018 2:06 pm

There's an interesting video by Coyote Peterson(Brave Wilderness) on Youtube if you want to learn more about that bug (and a very clear indication of why you need to be careful with it).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-oSVCCqzU

Mbrownblue5
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2018 12:38 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Weird Ant (Possibly not even an ant)

Post: # 39125Post Mbrownblue5
Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:04 am

That’s what I was fearing, I will be releasing it today where I found it. Hopefully it can rejoin its family if it has one.

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