04 April 2012

'Cow killer' bug's hair is a white old mess

A Thistledown Velvet Ant, also known as a
Creepy ... the Thistledown Velvet Ant
Robert Jensen/Solent News

LOOKS like this insect is having a bad hair day.

The tiny Thistledown Velvet ant is just two centimetres long. But thanks to its vicious sting it is known as Cow Killer Ant.

Despite its name it is a wingless female wasp. It is found crawling through lawns or digging around soil.

Snapper Robert Jensen, 58, captured this super close-up photo while travelling through the Mojave Desert in California.

His 22-year-old son Chris spotted the critter wandering around on the ground.

The male of the bug species are even smaller — though it does not mean their sting is any less painful.

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