Anybody from Georgia?

[jeryst]

About 6 or 7 years ago, we went for a vacation to Georgia, and stayed in a rented cabin in an area called My Mountain.

We discovered a lot of strange (to us from PA) critters as we poked around outside. We found some eggs buried in the dirt on the side of a hill,
so I put them in a jar and took them home with us. They hatched into some really cool little lizards that I gave to a pet shop because I didnt
know what they were or how to take care of them. Found some small scorpions. Also saw some really huge green moths come out at night.
It was really neat, because as we watched the moths from inside the window, a mother cat appeared with a lone kitten, and she showed the
kitten how to jump up and grab them. They both ate pretty good, but as soon as we tried to go outside, they ran, so I assume they must have
been wild.

Anyways, on one of our outings, when my daughter was digging in the dirt, she uncovered an insect that looked like a large red ant with gold colored spots
on it. It quickly burrowed back into the dirt and I couldnt find it, but I've tried to look up information on it and have never found anything. I'm pretty
sure is wasnt just a product of the wine I was drinking, so I was just wondering if you have ever heard of or seen such a thing. If I remember correctly, it
was at least a half inch long and bright red.

Okay, I expect some smart ass comments, but I'd seriously like to know what it was.

[BigBlackDodge]

South Georgian here.....

I've seen large red ants before maybe 1/4 to 3/8 long, bright red too. Not sure what they're called. They're not fire ants though, those are much smaller.

BBD

[grdprx]

Charger discussion?   

[jeryst]

Oops. I put it in the wrong place. How do I move it?

[Topher]

Sounds like a cow killer ant. They're supposed to be poisnous enuff to kill a large animal and even a human. I see them from time to time here in NC.

[terrible one]

There are tons of those cow ants where Im from in Arkansas but they are a bit bigger ( about an inch long!) and are fuzzy!

http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse/cowkil.html

that says they are actually wasps though but you always just see em crawling around

[jeryst]

I cant remember already if it was half inch or inch. It was pretty big. Looked like an ant.
Bright red with gold spots. Very shiny like a regular ant, not fuzzy.
Moved very fast and shot back into the ground.
Was wondering if it was a queen of some kind.