Timulla barbata ( Fox, 1899 )

Waldren, George C., 2024, Taxonomic notes on velvet ants of the genus Timulla Ashmead, 1899 (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) in the United States of America and Canada, Insecta Mundi 2024 (55), pp. 1-10 : 4-6

Timulla barbata ( Fox, 1899)

( Fig. 1 )

Mutilla barbata Fox 1899: 272 . Type ♂ (ANSP).

Timulla (Timulla) wileyae Mickel 1937a: 41 . Holotype ♀ (UMSP). New synonym.

Remarks. The males of Timulla barbata ( Fox, 1899) and Timulla ornatipennis ( Bradley, 1916) are unique in Timulla in that they have banded wings, and their bodies are colored similarly to the females of the pompilid genus Psorthaspis Banks, 1911 that occur in the southeastern United States ( Fig. 1 and 2 ; pers. obs.). These males also share the following combination of characters: the scape is ventrally covered with long whitish setae, F1 is more or less ventrally concave, the clypeus is relatively flattened and mostly impunctate, the mandible is ventrobasally armed with a tooth, the pygidial process is Y-shaped, S2 has an apical transverse carina/ridge present, and S6–S8 are armed with a lateral tubercle. Bradley (1916) described Mutilla (Timulla) ornatipennis from both sexes, with the holotype being a mating pair practicing mandibular phoretic copulation ( Bradley 1916; Waldren et al. 2020). The female of T. barbata , however, remains unknown.

The female of Timulla ornatipennis ( Bradley, 1916) is morphologically nearly identical with the female-based species Timulla wileyae Mickel, 1937 . These females share the following combination of characters: the mesosoma is nearly parallel-sided and medially weakly emarginate in dorsal view, a scutellar scale is present, the pygidial plate is irregularly rugose in sculpture, and the clypeus has a prominent median tubercle present. The only two apparent morphological differences between these females are T2 being entirely orange with the anterior ovate setal patches absent in T. ornatipennis and T2 is entirely blackish with the anterior ovate setal patches present in T. wileyae .

Timulla barbata and T. wileyae are both known from the southeastern USA mostly west of the Mississippi River ( Mickel 1937a). Both species have been collected in Latimer County, Oklahoma, at Camp Maxey, Texas, and in Nacogdoches, Texas. The record at Camp Maxey involves both sexes being collected in the same flight-intercept trap. The close relationship based on morphology between the males of T. barbata and T. ornatipennis , and the females of T. wileyae and T. ornatipennis , coupled with the overlap in distribution between the male-based species T. barbata and the female-based species T. wileyae with three cases of them being collected in the same county or city (and even the same trap), is considered strong evidence that the two are opposite sexes of the same species. As a result, Timulla wileyae Mickel, 1937 is here considered a new synonym of Timulla barbata ( Fox, 1899) .

Material examined ( Timulla barbata ) (10 ♂). Non-type (s): USA: Oklahoma: Latimer Co.: Oct.1988, K. Stephan (1♂ – FSCA) ; Jun.1988, K. Stephan (1♂ – FSCA) ; Aug.1988, K. Stephan (3♂ – FSCA) ; Sep.1988, K. Stephan (3♂ – FSCA). Texas: Lamar Co.: Camp Maxey, 16.Jun.–21.Jul.2003, W. Godwin, “Tallgrass, FIT #80” (1♂ – SHSU – SHSUE016576 ). Nacogdoches Co. : Nacogdoches, 30.Sep.1959, R. Eubanks (1♂ – EMUS) .

Material examined ( Timulla wileyae ) (6 ♀). Non-type (s): USA: Oklahoma: Latimer Co.: Jan.1983, K. Stephan (1♀ – DGMC) ; Apr.1983, K. Stephan (1♀ – DGMC) ; May.1983, K. Stephan (1♀ – DGMC) ; Mar.1988, K. Stephan (1♀ – FSCA) ; Red Oak, 5 mi. W, 21.May.1977, K. Stephan (1♀ – FSCA). Texas: Lamar Co.: Camp Maxey, 16.Jun.– 21.Jul.2003, W. Godwin, “Tallgrass, FIT #80” (1♀ – SHSU – SHSUE016551 ). Nacogdoches Co. : Nacogdoches, 10.Apr.1965, A. Reyer (1♀ – EMUS) .

In total, 28♂ and 96♀ of Timulla barbata ( Fox, 1899) were examined ( CNC, DEBU, DGMC, FSCA, GCWC, INHS, LSAM, MCZ, MSUC, NCSM, OMNH, OSEC, PERC, SEMC, SFAC, SHSU, TAMU, UMRM).

Figures

Figures 1–8. Lateral habitus of Timulla males. 1) Timulla barbata (Fox, 1899). 2) Timulla ornatipennis (Bradley, 1916). 3) Timulla dubitata dubitata (Smith, 1855). 4) Timulla dubitata fugitiva Mickel, 1937. 5) Timulla euterpe (Blake, 1879). 6) Timulla euterpe (Blake, 1879). 7) Timulla vagans rufinota Mickel, 1937. 8) Timulla vagans vagans (Fabricius, 1798). Scale line = 2.0 mm.