Photomorphus (Photomorphus) impar (Melander)

Brabant, Craig M., Williams, Kevin A. & Pitts, James P., 2010, True females of the subgenus Photomorphina Schuster (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), Zootaxa 2559, pp. 58-68 : 65

Photomorphus (Photomorphus) impar (Melander) , REVISED STATUS

( Fig. 5 )

Mutilla parvula Blake, 1886 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 13: 206. Holotype female: Alabama [ANSP]. Preoccupied by Mutilla parvula Fabricius, 1804 . New syn.

Mutilla impar Melander, 1903 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 29: 321. Holotype female: Fedor, Texas, May 1901, G. Birkman coll. [ANSP].

Photomorphus johnsoni Viereck, 1903 . Ent. News 14: 249. Holotype male: Riverton, Burlington Co., New Jersey, July 7, 1901, C.W. Johnson coll. [ANSP]. New syn.

Photomorphus johnsoni var. argentipilis Schuster, 1944 . Brooklyn Ent. Soc., Bul. 39: 148. Holotype male: Stone Mt., Georgia, June 7, 1917 [CUIC]. New syn.

Diagnosis of female: Females of Photomorphus impar are distinguished from other Photomorphus s.s. females by the following combination of characters: mandible with distinct ventral tooth, apical metasomal segments dark brown ( Fig. 5 ), and pygidium with complete parallel striae.

Distribution. Widespread in the eastern and central United States.

Material examined: USA, South Carolina, Pickens Co.: Dovehaven, 7 mi NE Pickens: 2.Jul.1982, A. Dozier (1 Ψ, FSCA); 25.Jun.1983, H.L. Dozier (1 Ψ, FSCA).

Remarks. Mutilla impar was synonymized with P. myrmicoides by Mickel (1934), based on morphological similarity ( Fig. 7 ). The holotype is clearly not synonymous with P. m y r m i c o i d e s due to major differences in pygidial sculpturing. Photomorphus impar has complete striae and P. myrmicoides has striae on the basal portion the pygidium only. Similarly, Mutilla parvula (preoccupied) was determined synonymous with P. myrmicoides by Mickel (1934), but the type is readily separated from P. myrmicoides by the pygidial characters listed above.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Chronology of taxonomic changes discussed herein.

FIGURES 1 − 6. Habitus, female. 1, Photomorphus archboldi (Florida); 2, P. auriventris (Wisconsin); 3, P. s p i n c i (South Carolina); 4, P. subtenuis (Nebraska); 5, P. impar (South Carolina); 6, P. myrmicoides (Missouri).