Steven
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Vants from LA areaAssuming these are Velvet Ants?
Pretty little buggers.
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What
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Those are velvet ants, and you have real guts to be holding them... The stings are supposed to hurt like hell.
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josh_r
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i hold them all the time. check this one out. it has some really cool colors
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Steven
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Wow ...Josh, that one really looks like an ant! ...goofier looking then the ones I found.
I dont think they are big stingers. Ive handled these a bunch and a few others in the past ...never got stung. Just another example of over exaggerated bug scariness. The common name "cow killer" ...just stupid. People believe in a name. "Daddy... why are they called cow killers?" "Cause they kill cows son ...they sting em and kill em.. so be carefull!"
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What
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I have seen a couple of them with stingers well over 1/4"... I have heard from a couple reliable sources that the stings hurt not only because of the depth but also the venom.
Andrew, any interest in trying them out? 
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cacoseraph
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sure
thought truth be told i found a er... Dasmutila(?) species and i was too scared to hold it. BIG fangs and BIG stinger and BIG rep =P
apparently i am not growing wiser, just older though... so i would probably give it a whirl
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NBond1986
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well, they aren't ants.
im sure you guys know that. i just wanted to point it out, incase someone didnt.
they're actually wasps.
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NBond1986
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by the way.
what you have, are females, i believe
males fly.....right?
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cacoseraph
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mature males fly, yes
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Steven
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Females come equipped with ballistic parachutes though.
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josh_r
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the males are very strange. ive caught a few in the past. many of these guys parasitise other bee and wasp species.
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