The velvet ant is not velvet, not ant. It is a wasp, grooved with sting. If scooped into the muzzle of a lizard, the velvet ant (not velvet, not ant) jackhammers. Its whole body is ammunition. They call it cow killer. Yet it is beautiful, too: encased in orange & white thistle. Spotted red & black. You don’t blame the lizard. The velvet ant could be soft, you think. It could be tamed. Like all things velvet, it pulls your hand near. So small, so downy. Surely nothing this small could ever harm you.
