"Although velvet ants are often referred to as ‘cow killers’, there is no evidence they could be dangerous to livestock and they are unlikely to be found on farmland."

Specimens of Mutilla europaea, a rare species of parasitoid wasp commonly known as ‘velvet ants’ because of their distinctive appearance and similarity of females to ants, have been sighted in Scotland for the first time in 32 years.

Dr Jenni Stockan, a research scientist based at the Institute’s Environmental and Biochemical Sciences group in Aberdeen, spotted the velvet ants on permanent upland grassland in Aberdeenshire.

read more

Read Full Article

This article was originally posted by The James Hutton Institute