Dasymutilla foxi

Distinguished from other Dasymutilla species by its highly variable setal coloration, with individual body segments ranging from whitish to reddish. Eastern populations (Colorado, Kansas, Texas) are identifiable by a characteristic black setal patch on the mesosoma. Females are wingless and ant-like in appearance; males possess wings. Size ranges from 5 to 11 mm based on Mickel's 1928 observations.

Mexico and the southwestern United States. Documented in Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma (with county-wide distribution records in Oklahoma per 2013 study).

• Diadasia species - parasitizesfemales parasitic in nests of Diadasia bee species per Cockerell specimens

New behavioral observations have been documented for this species in Oklahoma, though specific details require access to the full 2013 study. Females are known to actively search for host nests. Both sexes can produce audible stridulation by rubbing abdominal segments together, a trait common in the genus.

Parasitoid of ground-nesting bees; specifically documented as parasitizing nests of Diadasia species. As a member of the Mutillidae, contributes to population regulation of solitary bee hosts.

Females possess a potent sting and should not be handled. The species name honors entomologist William J. Fox.

• Dasymutilla bioculataSimilar size range and geographic overlap; D. foxi distinguished by variable setal coloration pattern and black mesosomal patch in eastern populations versus D. bioculata's more consistent coloration
• Dasymutilla occidentalisBoth are red-and-black velvet ants with painful stings; D. foxi lacks the consistent bright red coloration of D. occidentalis and shows greater setal variability

• Mutillidae
• velvet ant
• parasitoid
• variable coloration
• southwestern US
• Mexico
• wingless female
• stridulation

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Bembicid Holdings | Entomology Research Museum
• Insect FAQs | Entomology Research Museum
• Bug Eric: Wasp Wednesday: Dasymutilla bioculata
• The gloriously dichromatic Dasymutilla gloriosa | Beetles In The Bush
• A sting to kill a cow? Red velvet ant, a.k.a. cow killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis — Bug of the Week
• Museum Collections and Notes Lead to the Rediscovery of a Grasshopper Not Seen in 60 Years
• Velvet Ants, Past and Present: A County-Wide Checklist of the Distribution and Diversity of Mutillidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in Oklahoma Including Two New State Records, and New Behavioral Observations for Dasymutilla foxi (Cockerell)