Dasymutilla eurynome Mickel 1928

Williams, Kevin A., Manley, Donald G., Deyrup, Mark, Dohlen, Carol Von & Pitts, James P., 2012, Systematic review of the Dasymutilla monticola species-group (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae): using phylogenetics to address species-group placement and sex associations, Zootaxa 3554, pp. 1-29 : 16

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.213054
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5674221
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1F2F8784-F970-0563-FF3B-9BE9FCC0FEC8
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Dasymutilla eurynome Mickel 1928
status

Treatment

( Fig. 17 View FIGURES 9 – 23 )

Dasymutilla eurynome Mickel, 1928 . U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 143:209. Holotype, Ƥ, Valentine, Presidio County, Texas, July 8, 1917, J. Bequaert (UMSP).

Diagnosis. FEMALE. The female of this species can be separated from other Dasymutilla by the following combination of characters: the first flagellomere is elongate; the head and mesosoma are entirely covered with appressed silver setae and erect black setae, except a medial patch of appressed black setae that extends from directly anterior to the scutellar scale to the medial portion of the posterior propodeal face ( Fig. 17 View FIGURES 9 – 23 ); and there is a dense medial patch of appressed black setae in the basal half of T2 ( Fig. 17 View FIGURES 9 – 23 ). MALE. Unknown.

Length. Females: 7–8 mm.

Host. Unknown.

Distribution. This rare species has only been recorded from western Texas.

Material examined. Type material. Holotype, USA, Texas, Presidio Co., Valentine, 1Ƥ, 8.VII.1917, J. Bequaert ( UMSP); Paratype, Ƥ, USA, Texas, Presidio Co., Valentine, 8.VII.1917, J. Bequaert ( MCZC).

Remarks. This species is morphologically similar to D. saetigera , differing only in the setal coloration of the mesonotum and scutellar area. Differences in setal pattern have proven inadequate for species delimitation in other Dasymutilla ( Williams et al., 2011) . We support Mickel’s hypothesis that this species is distinct from D. saetigera , however, because the species are geographically isolated from one another by the Rocky Mountain and Sierra Madre ranges and no intermediate forms are known. The male is unknown, but is likely similar to that of D. saetigera .

The photograph included in Manley & Pitts (2007) of this species was misidentified from the collection of KAW and is actually D. monticola . This error was only recognized after KAW had an opportunity to examine the paratype of D. eurynome ( Fig. 17 View FIGURES 9 – 23 ) in 2009 and the holotype in 2011. Manley & Pitts (2007) recorded this species from Nayarit, Mexico. KAW examined this specimen in the Bohart Museum of Entomology (University of California, Davis) and determined the specimen to be D. saetigera as appressed black setae are present on the mesonotum and vertex. Four additional specimens of D. saetigera were examined from the same site in Nayarit (10 mi. east of Acaponeta). Dasymutilla eurynome appears to be restricted to the mountainous regions of western Texas and is unlikely to occur outside the Chihuahuan ecological region.