Photomorphus bicolor (Blake)

Pitts, James P., Wilson, Joseph S., Williams, Kevin A. & Boehme, Nicole F., 2009, Velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of the Algodones sand dunes of California, USA, Zootaxa 2131, pp. 1-53 : 34

Photomorphus bicolor (Blake)

Agama bicolor Blake, 1879 . Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 7: 252. Male. Syntypes: Texas, 2 males (ANSP).

Mutilla madejskii Dalle Torre, 1897 . Cat. Hymen. 8: 56. Male.

Mutilla bellerophon Melander (nec Fox), 1903. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 29: 306, 307. Male. New Synonym.

Mutilla ( Photomorphus ?) crepuscula Viereck, 1906. Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 32: 188. Male. Holotype data: Kansas, Morton Co., F.H. Snow (SMEC). New Synonym.

Photomorphus (Photomorphina) bicolor Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 42.

Diagnosis of male. This species is separated from the other nocturnal mutillids on the Algodones Sand Dunes by having crenulate mesosternal processes that are made of five or more scattered asperations, roughly equal in height, that form a longitudinal row on either side of the midline, a clypeus with a well-defined posteromedial tubercle, and a glabrous pygidium. The genitalia are illustrated in Fig. 107 .

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. California, Imperial Co., Algodones Dunes, Wash Rd. , 0.7 km W, Rail Road Post 168, 1 male, 18–22.Sep.2008, R. Kimsey and T. Zavortink ( UCDC).

Distribution. Found throughout the southwestern United States.

Remarks. This species is not common on the dunes, but is common in other parts of its range. The specimen from the dunes varies in coloration from specimens collected elsewhere. On most specimens the metasoma is black, which is distinctly darker than the mesosoma and head. The specimen from the dune has dark coloration only around the felt lines, while most of the metasoma is stramineous to slightly castaneous.

Figures

FIGURES 100 – 107. Sphaeropthalma arota, male: 100. genitalia, dorsal view right, ventral left; 101. head, dorsal view; and 102. mandible, lateral view. Photomorphus clandestina, male, 103. genitalia, dorsal view left, ventral right; 104. mandible, lateral view; and 105. mesosternal processes, oblique angle, posterior view. Odontophotopsis bellona, male, 106. mesosternal processes, anterior view; Photomorphus clandestina, male, 107. genitalia, dorsal view left, ventral right.