Sphaeropthalma angulifera Schuster, 1958

Wilson, Joseph S., 2017, Nocturnal Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, California with the description of three new species, Zootaxa 4319 (2), pp. 329-367 : 351

Sphaeropthalma angulifera Schuster, 1958

Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) angulifera Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 32. ♂. Holotype data: California, Kern County, Bakersfield ( CASC).

Diagnosis of male. The male of this species has mandibles that are weakly excised ventrally with a distinct angulate basal tooth and an apex that is tridentate and oblique, but most importantly the dorsal carina of the mandible is angulate at the midpoint of the mandible coinciding with the ventral tooth (see Pitts et al. 2010a: Fig. 54), the posterior margin of the head is quadrate, the mesosternum lacks processes, the second metasomal sternum has a distinct felt line, and the pygidium is granulate. The genitalia also help to diagnose this species; the cuspis is a uniform diameter from the base to the apex (see Pitts et al. 2010a: Fig. 53).

Diagnosis of female. The female of this species has the dorsum of the body covered with moderately dense erect pale golden brachyplumose setae that do not obscure the integument; the ventral margin of the mandible has a slight excision followed by a distinct angulate tooth and lacks a dorsal tooth at the termination of the dorsal carina; the head below the eyes widens towards the mandibular insertions; the first metasomal segment is sessile with the second; the pygidium is granulate; and the apical margins of the terga have dense fringes of white plumose setae.

Material examined. Holotype data: California, Kern County, Bakersfield ( CASC) . JTNP: 18–21.Jul.2012: 3 ♂ N9; 1 ♂ S18. 26–28.Aug.2012: 2 ♂ N9; 1 ♂ T. 22–24.Sep.2012: 2 ♂ N9; 1 ♂ T. 26–28.Oct.2012: 9 ♂ N9; 9 ♂ N5; 1 ♂ S13; 5 ♂ S18.

Distribution. USA (California, and Nevada).

Activity. This species is seemingly active throughout the season but is rare at JTNP.

Remarks. Sphaeropthalma angulifera is in the S. unicolor species-group ( Pitts & Sadler 2015) and is morphologically similar to S. unicolor (Cresson, 1865) and S. mendica , but can be differentiated from these two species by mandibular morphology (Wilson & Pitts 2009). Although this species is found throughout the Mojave and western Sonoran Deserts, it is extremely rare. Wilson & Pitts (2009) diagnosed the female based on associations made from similarities of the female to that of S. mendica and distributional data. This species is typically rare, but seems more abundant at JTNP ( Table 2 & 3) than further north in the Mojave Desert (e.g. Ferguson 1967; Boehme et al. 2012) or south into the Sonoran Desert (e.g. Pitts et al. 2010a).