第 0988 號，共 1 402 號

Large velvet ant

Mutilla europaea

名字的由來： The name "velvet ant" comes from the dense, velvet-like bristles (setae) that cover its body.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 large velvet ant is not really an ant. It is a wasp, and the females have no wings and look like fuzzy ants. It lives in parts of Europe, Asia and North Africa, in heaths, moors, grasslands and woodland. Its sting is painful, but it is not aggressive.1

分布在

Most of Europe, east to China, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. In Great Britain, mainly the south and east, and recently as far north as Aberdeenshire.1

歐洲, 亞洲

首頁

It lives in heaths, moors, chalk grassland and woodland. In England it is most closely linked to lowland heaths, where females are often seen running across sandy paths.1

長度

1,4 cm (0,6 in)3

一般成體大小

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 larvae are parasitoids that eat the pupae of bumblebees, and occasionally honeybees, inside the host nest. Adults feed on nectar, and on the honey stores of host bees.1

Large velvet ant 的照片 — Large velvet ant。照片：Michael Knapp。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Males are dark red on the tip of the mandibles (jaws) and on the thorax.1
The first and second segments of the abdomen have bands of long silver bristles.1
The tip of the abdomen and much of the body are covered in long black bristles.1
Females have a red mesonotum (the upper middle part of the thorax) and silver-spotted flanks along the abdomen.1
Some males are completely black, and colour varies between individuals.1

毒液力量

螫

毒液從螫針出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

The sting is painful. Its venom is much less toxic than the venom of a honeybee.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 wasp is not aggressive and only stings people when handled. Its sting is painful but less toxic than a honeybee's.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When threatened, it stridulates by rubbing a raised structure called the plectrum over ridges on its abdomen, which makes a sound.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？

小到可以坐在你的指甲上

Large 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)

Large 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

Their thick, armoured skin is so strong that related species in North America have been reported to escape from the mouths of lizards and frogs.1

Females can sneak into the nests of paper wasps and steal their food stores, possibly because they can disguise their scent so the paper wasps cannot detect them.1

The size of the adult wasp depends partly on the size of its host: wasps raised in honeybees are smaller than those raised in bumblebees.1

Females are wingless, but males have wings.1

Males die soon after emerging in autumn, while females hibernate over winter, sometimes in the host nest or at the roots of low plants.1

破解迷思

迷思： The nickname "cow killer" means the sting can kill cows.

真相： The nickname is inappropriate. Its sting is painful, but its venom is much less toxic than a honeybee's, and it is not aggressive.1

給毒液專家

學名: Mutilla europaea
類群: 蜜蜂、胡蜂和虎頭蜂
家人: Mutillidae2
排序: Hymenoptera
各大洲: 歐洲, 亞洲
寶寶: The female lays an egg into a bee cocoon, where the wasp larva feeds on the host pupa.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3