Red Velvet Ant vs African Migrant Butterfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Red Velvet Ant African Migrant Butterfly
Scientific Name Dasymutilla magnifica Catopsilia florella
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Mutillidae Pieridae
Size 12-20 mm 55-70 mm wingspan
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Underground
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Southwestern United States, Mexico Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Red Velvet Ant

A large, brilliantly red-haired velvet ant found in the arid regions of the American Southwest. Females are wingless and run rapidly across open ground.

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Did You Know?

Its exoskeleton is so tough that entomological pins often bend when researchers attempt to mount specimens.

African Migrant Butterfly

A large white to greenish-yellow pierid butterfly that undertakes massive migrations across Africa. Males are white while females are often greenish.

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Did You Know?

Migrating swarms can be so dense they have been reported to delay trains and cause traffic accidents.