Lomachaeta theresa Williams & Pitts, 2009

Williams, Kevin A., Cambra, Roberto A., Bartholomay, Pedro R., Luz, David R., Quintero, Diomedes & Pitts, James P., 2019, Review of the genus Lomachaeta Mickel, 1936 (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) with new species and sex associations, Zootaxa 4564 (1), pp. 101-136 : 129-130

Lomachaeta theresa Williams & Pitts, 2009

( Fig. 57 )

Lomachaeta theresa Williams & Pitts, 2009: 238 . Holotype, ♂, Mexico, Sonora, 42 km ENE Alamos (EMUS).

Diagnosis. MALE. The following combination of characters is diagnostic for L. theresa : the body is entirely blackish; the mandible lacks a ventral tooth basally; the gena is ecarinate; the head and T2 disc have separated punctures; the forewing has its veins encompassing the basal 0.65 × of the wing; the T1 shape is sub-sessile; the T2 fringe is composed of thickened bristles; and the paramere is subcylindrical, virtually straight, and lacks long tufts of setae. Body length 5–6 mm.

FEMALE. Unknown.

Material examined. MEXICO: Sonora: 43 km E Alamos, Rancho San Pablo , 1–5.VI.2007, M.E. Irwin (1♂, EMUS, Fig. 57 ) .

Distribution. Known only from Sonora, Mexico.

Remarks. Among males of Lomachaeta , some of the most easily interpreted features for sorting the taxa are: 1) the presence or absence or a ventral mandibular tooth, 2) the presence or absence of thick bristles on the T2 fringe, and 3) distribution in either North or South America. Lomachaeta theresa defies the functionality of some of these traits for establishing species-groups. Lomachaeta chionothrix , L. cirrhomeris , and L. hicksi have T2 bristles like L. theresa , but have a ventral mandibular tooth, which L. theresa lacks. The remaining North American species lack a ventral mandibular tooth, like L. theresa , but also lack the T2 bristles. The South American species, L. hyphantria and L. vianai , have the combination of unarmed mandible and T2 bristles, but they differ from L. theresa in having the gena carinate.

Figures

FIGURES 57–60. Lomachaeta males; lateral habitus. 57) L. theresa; 58) L. snellingella; 59) L. eironeia, sp. nov.; 60) L. polemomechana. Scale bar = 1 mm.