Sphaeropthalma Blake, 1871 (as subgenus of Mutilla Linnaeus, 1758). Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 3: 220 (in key); 232 (description). Male, female.

Gender. Feminine.

Type species. Mutilla (Sphaeropthalma) scaeva Blake, 1871 (male), by automatic designation (see Sphaerophthalma Blake, 1886) (currently Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica scaeva).

Taxonomic history. Raised to generic status by Blake, 1886: 179. Reduced to subgeneric status (in Mutilla Linnaeus, 1758) by Dalla Torre, 1897: 5. Junior subjective synonym of Mutilla Linnaeus, 1758 according to Fox, 1898: 14. Resurrected to generic status by Ashmead, 1899: 56. Junior subjective synonym of Ephuta Say, 1836 according to André, 1902c: 51. Senior objective synonym of Sphaerophthalma Blake, 1886; senior subjective synonym of Agama Blake, 1871, Micromutilla Ashmead, 1899, Neophotopsis Ashmead, 1903, Photopsioides Schuster, 1958, Photopsis Blake, 1886, Physetapsis Schuster, 1958, Pyrrhomutilla Ashmead, 1899, and Xenophotopsis Schuster, 1958. Valid generic name.

Sex association. The female of the type species has not been recognized as such; the female of a different subspecies was associated and identified (as Mutilla (Sphaeropthalma) balteola Blake, 1871: 248) by Bradley, 1916: 331.

Distribution. Nearctic, Neotropical.