Thistle-down velvet ant female

This fuzzy creature was spotted running across the sand in the southern California desert. They're called velvet ants, but are not actually ants – they are wingless female wasps, and while not at all aggressive, if grabbed they can sting. (Males have wings and fly well). These solitary insects are parasitoids of other species of ground-nesting sand wasps. Active during the day, their white fluff helps keep them cooler in the hot desert sun.