This Velvet Ant Provides New Insights Into Nature’s Ultrablack Secrets
New research has found an insect species with markings that are so black that they’re ‘superblack’ or ‘ultrablack’, absorbing ...
These animals evolved to be ‘ultrablack’—here’s why
An ant that disappears into the forest floor, a bird that demands attention from mates—for these animals, an inky black ...
Science News6d
Velvet ants have the Swiss Army knife of venoms
A velvet ant bite like “hot oil from the deep fryer” delivers an array of peptides that inflicts pain on insects and mammals alike.
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Velvet Ants' Rare Ultrablack Markings Are So Dark They Absorb Nearly All Visible Light
The species in question is Traumatomutilla bifurca, a type of velvet ant – which is, somewhat confusingly, actually a species of wasp. Some of these wasps don't have any wings, but they do have ...
New Scientist24d
Secrets of velvet ant's venom explain what makes its sting so painful
The sting of a female velvet ant is one of the most painful in the animal kingdom. Now, researchers have discovered that these insects have multiple proteins in their venom that make it ...