Dasymutilla magnifica Mickel

Pitts, James P., Wilson, Joseph S., Williams, Kevin A. & Boehme, Nicole F., 2009, Velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of the Algodones sand dunes of California, USA, Zootaxa 2131, pp. 1-53 : 18

Dasymutilla magnifica Mickel

Dasymutilla magnifica Mickel, 1928 . U.S. Natl. Mus., Bul. 143: 234. Female and male. Holotype data: Arizona, Pima County , 26 Jul 1918 (UMSP).

Diagnosis of male. The male of this species ( Fig. 53 ) possesses the following combination of characters: the setae of the head and the mesosoma are black, the setae of T2–6 and S2–6 are reddish medially, the posterior margin of the head is rounded, the anterior margin of the pronotum is rounded, S2 has an ovate median pit that is filled with setae, and the pygidium has an apical fringe of setae.

Diagnosis of female. The female of this species ( Fig. 42 ) possesses the following combination of characters: the setae of the head and the mesosoma are black while the setae of T2–6 and S2–6 are red medially, the antennal scrobe is carinate, the gena is coarsely punctate with a strong genal carina, and the femur is rounded apically.

Material examined. California, Imperial Co. : Algodones Dunes: Niland-Glamis Rd., 7.4 km N Hwy 78, 1 female, 24–28.Mar.2008, Bohart Museum Survey Team ( UCDC); Glamis, 2 mi NW, 2 males, 27.Oct.2003, S.E. Haskens ( CISC).

Distribution. Mojave and Sonoran Deserts in Arizona, California, Nevada, and the Mexican states of Baja California Norte and Sonora and east into the Madrean Archipelago of New Mexico.

Remarks. Only the female has been collected on the Algodones Dunes. Because of variation in setal coloration within other Dasymutilla species, it is possible that males of D. magnifica found on the dunes may have atypical setal coloration. There is only a minor possibility, though, given the fact that a typically colored female has been collected on the dunes. A typically colored male from off of the dunes is pictured in Fig. 53 . This species is widespread and not endemic to the Algodones Sand Dunes.

Figures

FIGURES 47 – 55. Habitus, lateral view. Dasymutilla atricuada, 47. female and 48. male; D. gloriosa, 49. female and 50. male; D. imperialis, 51. male; D. magnifica, 52. female and 53. male; and D. nocturna, 54. female and 55. male.

FIGURES 31 – 46. Lateral view of mandible, 31 – 40 female and 41 – 46 male. 31. O. arcuata; 32. O. inconspicua; 33. O. melicausa; 34. O. obscura; 35. O. parva; 36. O. villosa; 37. Sphaeropthalma blakeii; 38. S. difficilis; 39. S. militaris; 40. S. triangularis; 41. O. ambigua; 42. O. arcuata; 43. O. aufidia; 44. O. melicausa; 45. O. becki; and 46. O. django.