Muskovits József - György Zoltán - Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Magyarország hangyadarazsai - Natura Somogyiensis 18. (Kaposvár, 2011)
Collection, preparation
100 NATURA SOMOGYIENSIS Therefore it is possible to use virgin females to attract males. On one occasion we succeeded in trapping several dozen Myrmilla calva males by using about 50 females as the bait. Velvet ant develops through a complete metamorphosis that is from egg to larva, from larva to pupa, from which the adult velvet ant emerges. Following mating, the female searches the nest of the host in earth and opens it. For this purpose she uses her strong mandibles or her legs bearing strong digging spines. She lays her egg on the larva or pupa found in the nest. However, before that she uses her antennae to examine carefully the larva or pupa meant to be food for her offspring, and if it is too small, she closes the entrance and looks for another nest. When she finds a suitably developed larva or pupa, she immobilises it with a stab of her sting and lays her egg on it. Hatching from the egg the larva consumes the soft parts of the immobilised host, therefore the velvet ant may be considered an idiobiont ectoparasitoid. The number of larval stages is 4 or 5. The fully grown larva spins a cocoon and pupates into it. Development from egg to adult may take 4-5 weeks, therefore there can be two or more generations per year. Most species occurring in Hungary produce only a single generation every year. Rarely the females of some species may overwinter as adults. Stings, especially from the larger species can be quite painful. Females can sting repeatedly and each sting delivers venom into the wound. Whether females use their sting for acquiring food is questionable. Adult velvet ants are presumably not really predators, but they feed on plant sap or flower nectars. Numerous observations prove this in case of males, but it is quite probable also in females. In insectariums females have been observed feeding on honey and juicy fruits - water melons or peaches for example - and sucking water, therefore it is quite likely that they do the same in the wild. This way smaller velvet ants were kept alive for 30 to 60 days and the larger species up to 90 days. Collection, preparation Of the usually applied methods for collecting insects in practice only a few are suitable for velvet ants. Catching them by singling is possibly the most convenient approach, especially for females living on soil surfaces. Use of forceps or exhaustor are strongly recommended, because their sting, especially that of the larger specimen can be surprisingly painful. The females occasionally fall into pitfall traps used for collecting insects living on ground surface (i.e. ground beetles). The collection of male specimens is far more difficult, as they are good flyers and it is not easy to differentiate them in mid-flight from other Hymenoptera, which are similar to male velvet ants and occur in much greater numbers. Male specimens are best collected with sweep net as they tend to fly low, near the ground searching for females, but occasionally they can be found also on flowers, mainly on umbellifers (Apiaceae). Numerous males were collected from the umbels of wild carrot (Daucus carota L.). Other well known methods of collecting such as light-trapping, baiting or beating are
