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
Red imported fire ant species. Although parasitism pressures by these flies do not affect the ants' population density and activity, it has a small effect on a colony population. The strepsipteran insect "Caenocholax fenyesi" is known to infect male ants of this species and attack the eggs, and the mite "Pyemotes tritici" has been considered a potential biological agent against red imported fire ants, capable of parasitising every caste within the colony. Bacteria, such as "Wolbachia", has been found in the red imported fire ant; three different variants of the bacteria are known to infect the red imported fire ant. However, its effect on