Factales

Panda ants are not necessarily ants but wasps in the hymenopteran family Multillidae also called velvet ants.

Multillidae is a family made up of more than 3,000 species of wasps in which the females represents an ant. These insects own their name from their black and white color. The females are often wingless, huge and have many furs on its body.

These insects have a lovely appearance but have one nasty sting that could get ferociously painful on your skin. This is why they are also called “cow-killer,” since they are capable of knocking out a cow or other animals that are much larger than they are.

They also have a tough exoskeleton that help them while invading their prey’s nests and also in retaining moisture since they mostly occupy dry areas.

Unlike real ants, they do not have drones, workers, and queens. They grow up to a length of 8 millimeters and to a height of 2 to 3 millimeters tall. These are the average adult length and height respectively of panda ants.

These insects were first discovered in the coastal region of Central Chile in the year 1938. The 3000 species of Mutillidae occur worldwide, mainly in tropical climates. They are especially common in the Amazon rain forest and other rain forests with most of the over 100 South American species found in Brazil. They are also found in other parts of South America, such as Argentina and Colombia.