True ants are social, while velvet ants are solitary wasps.
Young develop as parasites of other immature insects. The velvet ant young feed on the immature bee or wasp in its cell or cocoon, eventually destroying it. There are many species and several genera of velvet ants in Missouri. Females of several species can produce chirping or squeaking sounds by scraping one abdominal segment against another. Dasymutilla occidentalis, the largest and most brightly colored species in the state, parasitizes bumblebee nests.