Dasymutilla combusta (Smith)

MANLEY, DONALD G. & PITTS, JAMES P., 2007, Tropical and Subtropical Velvet Ants of the Genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) with Descriptions of 45 New Species, Zootaxa 1487 (1), pp. 1-128 : 45

Dasymutilla combusta (Smith)

Mutilla combusta Smith, 1855 . Cat. Hym. Br. Mus. 3:59. Holotype female, Mexico [W. W. Saunders Collection]. The location of the type specimen is not known; it is not in the collection of The Natural History Museum (London).

Diagnosis of Female ( Plate C3L ). The apices of the middle and hind femora are squarely truncate, with the surface of the outer lobe being sulcate for this species. It can be separated from other species having this character by: tergum II has two conspicuous, yellow maculae while the remainder of the integument is ferruginous to reddish in color, definitely not black; the head is clothed with golden setae; the posterolateral angle of the head is distinctly carinate; the mesonotum lacks a scutellar scale; and the pygidium is granulate.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Mexico (Jalisco, San Luis Potosi, Veracruz).

Remarks. Smith (1855) described this species on the basis of a specimen in the collection of W. W. Saunders. The location of that specimen is not now known. However, it is not in the collection of The Natural History Museum (London).

This species is known only from the female. It is apparently limited in distribution to a relatively small area of central Mexico. It is a small, but conspicuous, species that is easily identified. We have examined about a half dozen specimens, exclusive of the holotype .

Figures

PLATE 3. Male genitalia of Dasymutilla. A. D. nocticaro. B. D. sinaloa. C. D. spiniscapula. D. D. truxali. E. D. sleipniri. F. D. veracruz. G. D. wasbaueri.