The Shaggy Wasp

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The fiery red and black shaggy coat of the so-called velvet "ant" does more than warn the unsuspecting that it packs a powerful sting. However, it is that shaggy coat that protects it from the heat of its desert home.

The insect, that is popularly called the velvet "ant," is actually a wingless wasp and is often found in hot, sandy, desert areas. This little wasp's coat of fur helps to insulate it from the heat of the desert sand that can reach temperatures as high as 130° F.

Many creatures - even plants that live in this hot environment - have protective fur coats often tinged with white to help reflect the heat. Digger wasps, which live in the same environment, even have little silvery hairs between their eyes in order to protect their tiny brains from the heat. It is from this environment that one popular landscaping plant, the dusty miller, comes with its silvery protective covering over its normally green leaves.

The clothes and coats we wear for protection, merely emulate those in the rest of the living creation, and are but weak images of our ultimate need for protection. When our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned, God provided them with fur coverings of animal skins. Yet these were only pointers towards the perfect covering for our sins provided by Jesus Christ.