Bug FAQPacific Velvet Ant
Dasymutilla aureola · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Mutillidae
The Pacific Velvet Ant has a large, square-shaped head and hair that can be red, yellow, or orange. It is found in the western United States.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It shows a large, square head and red, yellow, or orange hair.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in the western United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is the western United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 49 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Mutillidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasymutilla_aureola
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.