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
Black garden ant Black garden ant The black garden ant ("Lasius niger"), also known as the common black ant, is a formicine ant, the type species of the subgenus "Lasius", found all over Europe and in some parts of North America, South America, Australia, Asia and Australasia. The European species was split into two species; "L. niger" is found in open areas, while "L. platythorax" is found in forest habitats. It is monogynous, meaning colonies have a single queen. "Lasius niger" colonies can reach in size up to around 40,000 workers in rare cases but 4,000–7,000 is around average. A "Lasius niger" queen