第 0985 號，共 1 402 號

Cow killer velvet ant

Dasymutilla occidentalis

名字的由來： The nickname cow killer comes from its extremely painful sting. It is called an ant because it looks like one, but it is a wasp.1

只是會痛會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

蜜蜂、胡蜂和虎頭蜂

螫吃：肉

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

The cow killer velvet ant is a wasp that looks like a black and red ant. It lives in the eastern United States, from Connecticut and Kansas in the north to Florida and Texas in the south. It is known for a sting so painful that it earned the nickname cow killer.1

分布在

Eastern United States, from Connecticut to Kansas in the north and Florida to Texas in the south1

北美洲

長度

1,9 cm (0,7 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,5 km/h（0,31 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

The young are parasites. A female lays an egg on a host larva, and the grub that hatches eats the host larva.1

Cow killer velvet ant 的照片 — Cow killer velvet ant。照片：Judy Gallagher。 CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Black overall, with bright red on the upper side of the head, thorax and abdomen.1
Females have no wings. Males have dark, translucent wings and no stinger.1
Adults reach about 1.9 cm long, the largest velvet ant in the eastern United States.1
Quick-moving, and often takes a defensive posture when threatened.1
Adults are mostly seen in the summer months.1

常被誤認為： It is often mistaken for an ant because of its appearance and its common name. It is actually a wasp, and only the males have wings.1

毒液力量

螫

毒液從螫針出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its sting is among the most painful of any insect, ranked 3 out of 4 on the Schmidt sting pain index. The venom contains a peptide called Do6a, which triggers a pain response in fruit fly larvae in laboratory studies.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

The sting is extremely painful, ranked 3 out of 4 on the Schmidt sting pain index. This is the reason for the nickname cow killer.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

It has a thickened exoskeleton, runs fast and evasively, shows warning colours, makes a squeaking sound by rubbing its abdominal segments together, releases a chemical secretion and uses its venom.1

如果牠螫人

把蜜蜂的螫針刮掉，然後冷敷患處。
如果傷者呼吸困難、臉部或喉嚨腫脹，或覺得快要昏倒，這就是過敏急症：打緊急電話，如果傷者有腎上腺素自動注射筆，就使用它。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠螫了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

比你的小指頭還短

Cow killer velvet ant 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Cow killer velvet ant 大約 0,5 km/h (0,31 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Both sexes squeak to warn predators. Velvet ants rub their abdominal segments together, while crickets rub their legs against their abdomen.1

North American velvet ant species form one of the most intricate mimicry rings in the natural world, split into eight separate rings of mimicry.1

Males find females by smelling pheromones and by following their squeaking sounds. They carry the female in their jaws to a shaded, safe spot to mate.1

Females are wingless, a feature shared by all females in the family Mutillidae.1

Females are believed to mate only once in their lifetime.1

破解迷思

迷思： It is an ant because it looks like one and has the name ant.

真相： It is a parasitoid wasp. It is only commonly mistaken for an ant.1

給毒液專家

學名: Dasymutilla occidentalis
類群: 蜜蜂、胡蜂和虎頭蜂
家人: Mutillidae2
排序: Hymenoptera
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: A female lays a single egg onto a host larva, such as one of the eastern cicada killer or horse guard wasp, and the grub that hatches eats the host larva.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3