Sphaeropthalma nana ( Ashmead, 1896 )

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 : 357-358

Sphaeropthalma nana ( Ashmead, 1896)

Photopsis nanus Ashmead, 1896: 181 , ♂. Lectotype: Arizona, Tucson ( NMNH); Pitts et al. 2004: 224, ♂ (as type species of Micromutilla Ashmead).

Mutilla acontius Fox, 1899: 266 , ♂. Lectotype: New Mexico, Las Cruces ( ANSP).

Mutilla Ashmeadii Fox, 1899: 289 . Replacement name for Photopsis nanus Ashmead, 1896 , nec Mutilla nana Smith 1879 .

Photopsis nana Ashmead : Lelej & Brothers 2008: 35, ♂ (as type species of Micromutilla Ashmead).

Diagnosis of male. This species can be recognized by its small size, the moderately emarginate mandibles (see Pitts 2007: Fig. 27), the small marginal cell, which is shorter than the stigma measured along the costal margin, the lack of mesosternal processes, the genitalia with an extremely short cuspis that barely surpasses the penial valve in lateral view, and the lack of plumose setae even along the margins of the metasomal terga. Genitalia are illustrated in Boehme et al. (2012: Fig. 9 ).

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. Lectotype data: Ph. nanus : Arizona, Tucson , type no. 3279 ( NMNH) ; Lectotype data: M. acontius : New Mexico, Las Cruces , type no. 3279 ( ANSP) . JTNP: 18–21.Jul.2012: 1 ♂ N7.

Distribution. USA (Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico) and northern Mexico (Baja California and Sonora).

Activity. This species is seemingly rare at JTNP.

Remarks. Boehme et al. (2012) designated the Lectotype, and reinstated the name for stability and to lessen potential confusion based on article 59.3 of ICZN (1999). See Boehme et al. (2012) for the complicated taxonomic history of this species. This species is a member of the S. nana species-group ( Pitts & Sadler 2015) and is typically rare ( Table 2 & 3; e.g. Ferguson 1967; Pitts et al. 2009; Boehme et al. 2012).

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 12. Photomorphus schoenwerthi, sp. nov., 9. habitus; 10. head, frontal view; 11. mesosternum; and 12. pygidium.