Our paper on Velvet Ant venom is out at Current Biology! “Multiple mechanisms of action for an extremely painful venom” Velvet ants are among the most painful of all stinging insects. What makes them so painful? We used fruit fly larvae to find out 🧐 1/5

@Hoosierflyman Instead, defense against insects seems to be a more important. We tested if a velvet ant could defend itself against a formidable praying mantis. In multiple battles, the praying mantis tried to eat the velvet ant, but the velvet ant always managed to sting and escape. 5/5