Sphaeropthalma megagnathos Schuster

Pitts, James P., Wilson, Joseph S., Williams, Kevin A. & Boehme, Nicole F., 2010, Nocturnal velvet ant males (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Deep Canyon, California including four new species and a fifth new species from Owens Lake Valley, California, Zootaxa 2553, pp. 1-34 : 26

Sphaeropthalma megagnathos Schuster

Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) megagnathos megagnathos Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 37: 36. Male. Holotype: Arizona, Ehrenberg, 27.Apr.1939, coll. F.H. Parker (UMSP).

Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) megagnathos aurifera Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 37: 36. Male. Holotype: Arizona, Tinajas Atlas Mountains, 1905, coll. W.J. McGee (UMSP).

Diagnosis of male. The male of this species can be recognized by mandibular morphology ( Fig. 25 ; see Fig. 7 in Pitts, 2006). The mandibles are broadly dilated, especially the ventral portion apically, and is much wider distally than its width at the ventral angulation, the ventral basal tooth of the mandible is small, and the apex is vertical. Additionally, the head is long and parallel posteriorly, the clypeus is deeply depressed below the dorsal mandibular margin, the mesosternum lacks tubercles, the wings are yellowish-hyaline and a sternal felt line is absent. The genitalic morphology also is diagnostic (Fig. 59).

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. USA: California, Riverside Co.: Deep Canyon, 1 male, 19.May.1973, coll. M. Quillman, 1 male, 22–23. May.2007, 1 male, 23.Jul.1969.

Distribution. The western Sonoran and Mojave deserts.

Remarks. In some specimens the coloration of the setae is bright orange, although setal coloration varies from orange to white (see Fig. 29 in Pitts, 2006). The orangish specimens of S. megagnathos could easily be confused with S. luiseno or S. contracta based on coloration. They do not occur in Deep Canyon; S. luiseno has large projections bearing long, curved setae on the middle and hind coxae, while S. contracta has much smaller ocelli and different genitalic morphology (see Pitts et al. 2004).

Figures

FIGURES 25 – 31. Head, anterior view. 25. Sphaeropthalma. megagnathos; 26. S. mendica; 27. S. pallida; 28. S. sublobata; 29. S. tetracuspis; 30. S. triangularis; and 31. S. yumaella.

FIGURES 1 – 12. Head, anterior view. 1. Acanthophotopsis falciformis; 2. Acrophotopsis campylognatha; 3. Odontophotopsis acmaea; 4. O. armata; 5. O. aufidia; 6. O. bellona; 7. O. biramosa; 8. O. clypeata; 9. O. inconspicua; 10. O. mamata; 11. O. melicausa; and 12. O. quadrispinosa.