This stacking within the cuticle might be the key to producing the matte ultrablack color. Ultrablack is a rare pigment that ...

Dr. Lopez’s team was trying to uncover different mechanisms for color production in insects when it realized the velvet ant was unique. A closer inspection of its exoskeleton revealed that under ...

The first thing to understand about velvet ants is that they are not, in fact, ants. They're wasps, some of which are wingless, and are named in part for their fluffy exteriors.

Velvet ants are already known as “indestructible insects” because of their painful stings, venom and hard exoskeletons, ...