Sphaeropthalma militaris Schuster, 1958

Wilson, Joseph S., 2017, Nocturnal Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, California with the description of three new species, Zootaxa 4319 (2), pp. 329-367 : 357

Sphaeropthalma militaris Schuster, 1958

Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) militaris Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 27. ♂. Holotype data: California, Riverside County, Hopkins Well , 29.May.1952, G.A. Marsh ( CASC).

Diagnosis of male. This species has a deep excision on the ventral margin of the mandible, the mandible being tridentate and vertical apically, by the dense brush of orangish setae project forward off of the anterior margin of the clypeus (see Pitts et al. 2009: Fig. 93), by the lack of mesosternal processes, and the genitalia, which has a dorsoventrally flattened paramere that are thickly setose apically and a cylindrical cuspis that is approximately ¾ the free length of the paramere (see Pitts et al. 2009: Fig. 25).

Diagnosis of female. This species has the dorsum of the body covered with sparse erect brachyplumose setae, but the integument is not obscured, the ventral margin of the mandible with a deep excision subtended by a large rounded tooth, the head below eyes convergent, the frons evenly rounded to the vertex in lateral view, the first metasoma segment is petiolate with the second segment and the pygidium is granulate.

Material examined. Holotype data: California, Riverside County, Hopkins Well , 29.May.1952, G.A. Marsh ( CASC) . USA: California: San Bernardino County: Joshua Tree National Park, Dale Mine , 1 ♂, 25.May.2012, F. & T. Cambon ( EMUS) .

Distribution. USA (Arizona and California).

Activity. This species is rare at JTNP.

Remarks. This species is a member of the S. orestes species-group and is more abundant in the Sonoran Desert (e.g. Pitts et al. 2009, 2010a; Wilson et al. 2010).