Dasymutilla dugesii (Cockerell and Casad)

MANLEY, DONALD G. & PITTS, JAMES P., 2007, Tropical and Subtropical Velvet Ants of the Genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) with Descriptions of 45 New Species, Zootaxa 1487 (1), pp. 1-128 : 48

Dasymutilla dugesii (Cockerell and Casad)

Sphaerophthalma [ sic.] dugesii Cockerell and Casad, 1894 . Ent. News 5:294. Holotype female, Guanajuato, Mexico (A. Duges) [specimen lost].

Mutilla dugesii Dalle Torre, 1897 . Cat. Hymen., vol. 8:33. Fox, 1899. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 25:247. Neotype female, Big Springs, Texas (Wickham) [ANSP] (examined).

Ephuta (Ephuta) Dugesii [sic.] André, 1903. In Wytsman, Gen. Ins., fasc. 11:59. Female.

Diagnosis of Female (Plate C4D). The female of this species can be diagnosed by having the mesosoma as broad as long, lack of a scutellar scale, and by coloration. The mesosoma has a triangular-shaped patch of black setae anteriorly, which contrasts with the silver to yellowish background setae, and tergum II has red setae, except for a triangular patch of black setae on the anterior portion of the tergum. Tergum II lacks maculae. The head of the female is quadrate, but narrower than the mesosoma, the antennal scrobe and gena are not carinate, the mandible is bidentate, and sternum II is not scabrous.

Diagnosis of Male (Plate C4E). The male of D. dugesii is easily distinguished by having the ventral surface of the hind tibia flattened and arcuate, and by having the mesonotum clothed with black setae while the head, pronotum, scutellum and metanotum are clothed with whitish setae.

Host Identity. Anthophora occidentalis Cresson ( Hymenoptera : Apidae ) ( Krombein 1967).

Distribution. USA (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas); Mexico (Baja California, Coahuila, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas).

Remarks. This is a very common species closely related to, and perhaps even synonymous with, D. foxi . It is distinguished from the latter on the basis of distribution and setal coloration. Both sexes are easily identified. Hundreds of specimens of this species, both females and males, have been examined. The holotype has been lost for more than 75 years. We have designated as a neotype the specimen described by Fox in 1899. That specimen is in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.