Dasymutilla vulpina (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 : 101

Dasymutilla vulpina (Smith)

Mutilla vulpina Smith, 1879 . Descr. N. Sp. Hym.:225. Holotype female, Oajaca , Mexico (No. 15.880) [BMNH] (examined).

Diagnosis of Female (Plate C9L). This species is differentiated from others by the following combination of structural and coloration characters. This female has the head narrower than the mesosoma. Both the antennal scrobe and the gena are carinate. The mesosoma is as broad as long and lacks a scutellar scale. Sternum II is merely punctate, not at all scabrous. The head is clothed with yellow to orange setae, and the overall color pattern is contrasting yellow to orange and black. There is a circle of black setae on the dorsum of the mesosoma. Tergum II is not maculate, although in a few specimens the integument may be a little lighter on tergum II, under the golden setae.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Mexico (Distrito Federal, Jalisco, Morelos, Oaxaca).

Remarks. This species is known only from the female. It keys out relatively easily, although couplet # 5 may cause a problem in certain specimens. Less than a half dozen specimens of this species have been examined.