A fuzzy ant, similar to this one, was running along the ground next to my sleeping bag along the Colorado River at the bottom of Grand Canyon. I got videos of it, running like mad! It was actually much more fuzzy than this one, and I wanted to pick it up. The guide advised me not to do that, and I'm glad when I found out why!

This is called a velvet ant - for obvious reasons. But, it's actually not an ant at all. It's the wingless female of a type of wasp! Worldwide, there are thousands of species. They are often scarlet-colored or orange, but also appear in black, silver, gold, or white, which is like the one I saw. They mainly feed on nectar.

But, what they are most famous for is their sting! The female's sting is one of the most painful stings a human can receive, and is rated a 3 (out of 4) on the Schmidt Pain Index, which would rate it just below the pain level of a bullet ant or a tarantula hawk. For this reason, it's called a "cow killer"! Interestingly, even though the sting is far more painful, it's not as toxic as a honey bee.

The exoskeleton of the bullet ant is incredibly strong, too. This also makes it far less vulnerable to attacks from other creatures. In addition to that, its normal bright coloration acts as a natural defense since many creatures will avoid prey that is brightly colored.

So... a wasp that looks like an ant, that has "fur" like a mammal. Maybe this is God's version of the platypus in the insect world!  

In Christ,