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
Gold-digging ant was simply reporting what other travellers told him. Gold-digging ant The gold-digging ant is a mythical insect described in classical and medieval bestiaries. They were dog- or fox-sized ants that dug up gold in sandy areas. Some versions of the "Physiologus" said they came from Ethiopia, while Herodotus claimed they were located in India. In "Histories" (Book 3, passages 102 to 105) Herodotus reports that a species of fox-sized, furry "ants" lives in one of the far eastern, Indian provinces of the Persian Empire. This region, he reports, is a sandy desert, and the sand there contains a wealth of