Blessed by a Velvet Ant

I found this critter wandering through the yard and I was happy to see her! The velvet ant is not an ant at all, they are actually wasps. I was stung by one as a child that was trying to escape me. I put my hand over it and the next thing I knew, I was in terrible pain. The velvet ant is a beneficial insect, eating the cicada killer wasp larvae. The adult cicada killer wasp lay their eggs on the body of a cicada so when the larvae emerge, they eat the cicada as a food source. The velvet ant goes into these holes made by the cicada killer wasp and lay their eggs on the cicada as well. When the velvet ant emerges, it eats the larvae of the killer wasp. Be nice to the Velvet Ant!