Mutillidae durable, the exoskeleton is also round, making it more difficult for predators to pierce it with attempted stings or bites. During all the trials that led to the fracture of a velvet ant’s exoskeleton, a total of 4 times, resulted in the death of that velvet ant within 24 hours. Thus aside from protection from predators, the exoskeleton provides a function maintaining moisture control. Male mutillids fly in search of females; after mating, the female enters a host insect nest, typically a ground-nesting bee or wasp burrow, and deposits one egg near each larva or pupa. Only a few species
Green-head ant 1863 he moved the ant from "Rhytidoponera" to "Ectatomma". In 1897 Italian entomologist Carlo Emery named the ant "Rhytidoponera metallica" and in 1911 designated it as the type species of "Chalcoponera", a subgenus of "Rhytidoponera"; the ant was, however, mistakenly identified as the type species of "Rhytidoponera" by some scientists. The taxonomy of the green-head ant and other species related to it (forming the "R.metallica" species group) were a source of confusion due to the high geographic variations in the green-head ant and similar-looking species having been treated as forms (occurrence of multiple morphs). These forms have been described under