A nasty Ant - "The Jack Jumper"

[Schmoe1]

Came into this thread expecting to say "Ha!  I've got a rival for you here in the US!

The Velvet Ant, aka Cow Killer:



But nevermind, as I read what your ants do, jump on you and attack, I admit defeat.  These velvet ants are generally hard-to-find ground dwelling wasps and not aggressive unless handled.

I saw something that looked like that once in NC. I was standing guard duty outside a bank, and saw a fuzzy red ant that looked like that, but the little bastard was about 2 inches long! I thought, "well that's the biggest damned ant I ever saw, and it's fuzzy and red to boot!" Never saw one like it before, or since, so I figured I should maybe quit drinking or something, as it seemed to be having permanent effects even when I was sober. Thank God I talked myself out of THAT!

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Had a neighbor who served in Vietnam who'd occasional tell me a war story.  He talked about these centipedes they had, they'd toss grenades at them.  I thought that was a bit much until....



Yup, I don't blame him, I'd definitely shoot that thing.