Dasymutilla arachnoides (Smith)

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 : 23

Dasymutilla arachnoides (Smith)

Mutilla arachnoides Smith, 1855 . Cat. Hym. Br. Mus. 3:57. Holotype female, Mexico (No. 15.1046) [BMNH] (examined).

Sphaerophthalma [ sic.] hiera Cameron, 1895. Biol. Cent.-Amer., Hym. 2:352. Holotype female, Mexico, Paso del Macho (Höge) (No. 15.1044) [ BMNH] (examined). Synonymy: Mickel (1964:163).

Sphaerophthalma [ sic.] ephippiata Cameron, 1895. Biol. Cent.-Amer., Hym. 2:357. Holotype female, Mexico, North Yucatan (Gaumer) (No. 15.853) [ BMNH] (examined). Synonymy: Mickel (1964:163).

Diagnosis of Female ( Plate C1E ). This species is uniquely colored with the integument being entirely black, while the dorsum of the entire body is clothed with yellow and black or orange and black setae, and a conspicuous trifoliate pattern of black setae is present on tergum II. Other characters useful for separating this species from similarly colored species include the antennal scrobe being carinate dorsally and the gena being strongly carinate, the mesosoma being longer than broad, by having a scutellar scale, and by lack of sharp tubercles along the dorsopleural line of the mesosoma.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. USA (Arizona, two specimens from St. David, Cochise County); Mexico (Campeche, Chihuahua, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas); Guatemala; Honduras.

Remarks. This species is very common and is widely distributed throughout Mexico, and south into Central America. Although the two specimens from St. David, Arizona would seem to be outside the normal range, the collection data for those specimens are known to be accurate. Several hundred specimens of this species have been examined.

Figures

PLATE 1. Male genitalia of Dasymutilla. A. D. atrata. B. D. baylegi. C. D. bimaculata. D. D. boharti. E. D. brazilia. F. D. chamela. G. D. chillcotti. H. D. fimbriata. I. D. guanacaste.