Velvet Ants!

Male (winged) Velvet Ant
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Early Morning - 24 July 2006

Female (wingless) Velvet Ant
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Early Morning - 24 July 2006

This was a wonderful morning! I spent almost an hour observing several male and female velvet ants in a clearing in the woods not far from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

The females were bumbling around clumsily on the ground and the males were droning around lazily very low to the ground. Every so often the males would "sense" the females presence (the exact way that the males find the females is not very well researched, but it is believed to be a combination of pheromones and sight). The males would drop to the ground within 4 feet or so of the female and begin to walk around in tightening circles, each time getting closer (generally) to the female.

I never actually saw the velvet ants mate, but I did get a video of a male and female encounter where both looked at each other, and turned in the opposite direction, and scurried away. Bad first impression? Maybe.

The males seemed to be flying only in the shaded areas 0f the clearing. As the sun rose and the shaded areas got smaller, the males seemed to adjust their flying area accordingly. The ants were out until at least 8:30am in the morning.