Quwitilla Williams, Bartholomay & Cambra, 2019

Bartholomay, Pedro R., Williams, Kevin A., Cambra, To. A. & Oliveira, Márcio L., 2019, Does the genus Dasymutilla Ashmead occur in South America? The new genus Quwitilla, new combinations, and new distribution records from Neotropical velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), Zootaxa 4623 (2), pp. 261-282 : 262-264

Quwitilla Williams, Bartholomay & Cambra , gen. nov.

Type species. Mutilla blattoserica Kohl, 1882 , designated here

Diagnosis. Female: Females of Quwitilla can be separated from other 12 genera of 13 American Dasymutillini Brothers & Lelej, 2017 by having dense orange or golden setae on the mesonotum and T2. There is no unique trait to separate them from Dasymutilla , except for their distribution and the following traits are shared by all Quwitilla females: head lacking posterolateral tubercles; gena lacking a ventral carina; head, mesosoma, and legs clothed with dense brachyplumose orange or whitish setae obscuring punctation; tibial spurs black; scutellar scale present; T2 without integumental spots and pygidial plate is broad, coarsely sculpted, and defined by lateral carinae. Male: Males of Quwitilla can be separated from other Dasymutillini by having broad tridentate mandibles that are sharply carinae dorsally and strongly and abruptly curved inward medially, clypeus virtually flat throughout, and genitalia with parapenial lobe longer than penis valve in dorsal view.

Description. Female. Integument reddish-brown to black, sculpture mostly concealed by dense setation, con- fusedly foveate-punctate to simply punctate where visible. Simple and brachyplumose setae present in most of body. Head. Transverse slightly produced behind eye with posterolateral angle rounded. Occipital carina present dorsally, conspicuous. Eye subspherical, slightly protruding, its height in profile less than half its greater diameter, surface shining, ommatidia evident. Antennal scrobe evident, horizontal, at least short dorsal carina, near antennal tubercle, present. Clypeus with slightly protruded basomedial subtriangular area and strongly concave apicomedial transverse area, anteroventral margin sinuous. Malar space greater than basal length of mandible. Hypostomal carina strong, extending sinuously to posterior mandibular condyle, slightly elevated sublaterally. Scape slightly curved, apparently ecarinate. Pedicel slightly longer than wide, shorter than F1; F1 longer than wide and longer than F2. Mandible weakly curved at basal third, slender, tapering, with one small subapical tooth to unidentate apically, no ventral basal tooth, notch or flange. Maxillary palp with six palpomeres; labial palp with four palpomeres; basal palpomeres strongly flattened and broadened. Mesosoma. Thorax (pronotum+mesonotum) wider than long, subquadrate, slightly constricted anterior to propodeal spiracle; propodeum slightly narrowed posterior to propodeal spiracle, dorsum slightly convex to virtually flat; disk and declivity indistinct. Pronotal dorsal and anterior faces well defined in profile; epaulet poorly distinguishable from anterior margin of pronotum, humeral angle rounded to subacute. Scutellar scale present. Pleural suture and sculpture indistinguishable due to dense setation; endophragmal pit small, when visible, inconspicuous, usually obscured by setae, surrounding area virtually flat. Mesosternum concealed by dense setation; metasternal process present. Legs. Tibial spur formula 1-2- 2. Proleg with tarsal comb. Meso- and metatibia each with two rows of prominent stout spines, few spines in each row, spines smaller basad; metatibia subapically with inconspicuous secretory pore near base of inner apical spur; apical spurs broad, serrate laterally, outer spur shortened. Metacoxa with strong slightly arcuate carina on inner margin, ending abruptly halfway through coxal length. Metasoma. Sculpture and most of integument, except pygidium, concealed by dense setation. T1 shape clearly petiolate, dorsal and anterior face indistinct, weakly convex in lateral view; anterior auricle prominent, vertically lamellate but apparently dentate from above. Base of T2 slightly swollen over apex of T1, surface evenly and smoothly convex throughout, abruptly curved into T1 basally; T2 without integumental spots, lateral felt line narrow. T6 with conspicuous pygidium, delimited by lateral carinae throughout its visible extension, sculptured. S2 lacking felt line, less densely clothed than T2. S6 with strong bilobate projection on posterior margin.

Male. Integument black, sometimes with yellowish markings on metasoma, densely and finely foveate-punctate to simply punctate, lacking any conspicuous reflections. Setae mostly simple, brachyplumose setae always present. Head. Roundly transverse, conspicuously narrower than mesosoma. Occipital carina distinct dorsally. Eye subspherical, slightly protruding, its height in profile less than half its greater diameter, surface shining, ommatidia evident. Ocelli small. Antennal tubercles separated by approximately their own width. Antennal scrobe deep, reaching eye margin, with conspicuous carina on its dorsal margin, lacking lateral carina. Clypeus virtually flat, not conspicuously depressed or elevated, apical medial margin almost straight and without denticles. Malar space virtually as long as basal width of mandible. Genal carina absent. Hypostomal carina evident, evenly high throughout, extending in smooth curve to posterior mandibular condyle. Scape with two sharp longitudinal carina anteroventrally. Pedicel virtually as wide as long, shorter than F1, which shorter than F2. Mandible in dorsal/anterior strongly and sharply curved, broad, at most slightly tapering apically, sharply carinae anterodorsally, tridentate apically, lacking any ventral tooth or notch. Maxillary palp with six palpomeres; labial palp with four palpomeres; basal palpomeres strongly flattened and broadened, densely covered with short setae. Mesosoma. Surface finely and densely foveate-punctate and areolate-punctate to simply punctate where visible with smooth, apparently unsculptured areas on metapleuron and lateral faces of propodeum. Pronotal dorsal and anterior faces more or less defined, with anterior margin slightly outcurved in dorsal view, rounded in profile, epaulet poorly distinct from anterior margin of pronotum in dorsal view; posterodorsal margin of pronotum broadly V-shaped to evenly outcurved. Tegula broadly subcircular, strongly convex, almost entirely smooth and glabrous, except for punctures anteriorly and along inner margin. Mesoscutum, when visible, with notaulus inconspicuous and parapsidal line absent. Scutellum slightly convex; axilla short, apparently flat dorsally, rounded posteriorly, sculptured concealed by dense setation. Metanotum simple, transverse, equally wide throughout, sculpture concealed by dense setae. Propodeum convex, dorsal and lateral faces distinct. Wings. Forewing elongate sclerotized pterostigma approximately 2–3 × longer than wide; marginal cell elongate its maximum length 2–4 × its maximum width, obtuse or rounded apically; three closed submarginal cells, apical veins of third poorly defined. Legs. Tibial spur formula 1-2-2. Meso and metatibia without dorsal spines; apical spurs with microserrated margins, densely clothed with microsetae. Metasoma. Sculpture foveate-punctate to simply punctate when visible. T1 longer than wide, more or less evenly expanded from base but conspicuously swollen on posterior half, anterior and dorsal faces more or less distinct; anterior auricle conspicuous. T2 with lateral felt line narrow and long. S1 with poorly developed longitudinal carina. S2 lacking felt line, with conspicuous antero-medial pit densely filled with setae. Genitalia. Paramere moderately long, broad, evenly tapering apicad on apical third; acute and slightly curving outward apically, virtually straight in dorsal view. Parapenial lobe well developed, blunt apically, longer than penial valve and slightly shorter than cuspis. Cuspis short, stout, densely setose, apical setae at least as long as cuspis length; digitus elongated, at least as long as cuspis. Penis valve without any conspicuous concave or convex areas; with two apical sharp teeth on ventral margin, basal tooth greatly reduced; both teeth lacking lateral pocket and carina. Penis valve lacking any conspicuous setation.

Species included. This genus includes three Neotropical species: Quwitilla blattoserica ( Kohl, 1882) comb. nov., Q. peruviana ( Suárez, 1970) comb. nov. and Q. bellatrix ( Manley & Pitts, 2007) comb. nov.

Distribution. Ecuador, Peru and Chile.

Host. Quwitilla blattoserica supposedly parasitizes bees of the genus Melitoma Lepeletier & Serville ( Apidae : Apinae , Emphorini ) ( Manley & Pitts, 2007).

Etymology. From the Quechua Quwi “rabbit, hare”, and the common suffix for mutillid genera. In reference to the Cuy or Guinea Pig, the histricomorph rodent species typical of the Andes belonging to the genus Cavia Pallas.

Remarks. Females of Quwitilla are similar in color and morphology to many Nearctic members of Dasymutilla ; males likewise resemble Dasymutilla in color and overall body shape. The male’s clypeus and mandibles, however, are unlike that genus and instead resemble the male characters of Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica ( Lepeletier, 1845) . The only Dasymutillini male with similar mandibles is Gogoltilla Williams, Brothers, and Pitts, 2011 , which was only recently transferred to this tribe ( Brothers and Lelej 2017). Williams (2012) phylogeny recovered Q. blattoserica (then D. blattoserica ) as one of the earliest diverging lineages of Dasymutillini and a sister group to ( Reedomutilla Mickel, 1964a + Suareztilla Casal, 1968 ). Sadly, molecular grade samples of Gogoltilla were not available for that study.