Sphaeropthalma unicolor (Cresson)

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 : 46-47

Sphaeropthalma unicolor (Cresson)

Mutilla unicolor Cresson, 1865 . Ent. Soc. Phila., Proc. 4: 389. Male. Lectotype data: California, type no. 1887 (ANSP). Agama mendica Blake, 1871 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 3: 259. Male. Holotype data: Nevada, type no. 4551 (ANSP).

Mutilla auraria Blake, 1879 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 7: 248. Female. Holotype data: Nevada, type no. 4573 (ANSP). Mutilla Aspasia Blake, 1879 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 7: 250. Female. Holotype data: Nevada, type no. 4574 (ANSP). Mutilla Phaedra Blake, 1879 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 7: 251. Female. Holotype data: Nevada, type no. 4575 (ANSP). Agama rustica Blake, 1879 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 7: 252. Male. Holotype data: California, type no. 4550 (ANSP).

Photopsis nebulosus Blake, 1886. Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 13: 275. Male. Holotype data: Nevada, type no. 4549 (ANSP).

Sphaerophthalmia (sic.) anthophora Ashmead, 1897. In Davidson, South. Calif. Acad. Sci. Proc. 1: 5. Male Holotype data: California, Los Angeles, type no. 6113; Female Allotype data: California, Los Angeles, type no. 6113 (USNM).

Mutilla monochroa Dalle Torre, 1897 . Cat. Hymen. 8: 63. New name for M. unicolor Cresson.

Dasymutilla sumneriella Cockerell, 1915 . Entomologist 48: 259. Female. Holotype data: California, La Jolla, type no. 20409 (USNM)

Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) rustica ocellaria Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 32. Male. Holotype data: California, Berkeley (UMSP).

Diagnosis of male. The male of this species possesses mandibles that are weakly excised ventrally with an indistinct basal tooth and an apex that is tridentate and oblique, the posterior margin of the head is quadrate, the mesosternum lacks processes, the second metasomal sternite has a distinct felt line, and the pygidium is granulate. The genitalia are similar to S. triangularis ( Fig. 26 ), but the cuspis is only approximately one half the free length of the paramere, rather than almost as long as the paramere.

Diagnosis of female. The female of this species has the following combination characters: the dorsum of the head, mesosoma, and T2 is covered with dense erect red to pale orange brachyplumose setae that obscure the integument; the ventral margin of the mandible has a slight excision; the head below eyes is widens towards the mandibular insertions; the first metasomal segment is sessile with the second segment; and the pygidium is longitudinally striate.

Material examined. California, Imperial Co. : Algodones Dunes: Niland-Glamis Road, 7.4 km NW Glamis, 1 male, 1–2.Jun.2008, Museum Survey Team ( UCDC).

Distribution. This species is widespread in the Mojave and Western Sonoran Desert and the Central Valley of California. It is also present in the Great Basin Desert, the Colorado Plateau and the Snake River Plain.

Remarks. Ferguson (1967) published the long list of synonymies after study of over 1,000 specimens. At this point, we agree with his assertions. Future morphological and molecular investigations may show otherwise, however, because the specimens found on the Algodones Sand Dunes differ from those found in the Central Valley or areas west of the Southern California Coastal Range. Those individuals on the Algodones Dunes, as well as most of the range of S. unicolor , have the apical margins of the tergites with dense fringes of white plumose setae and the cuspis is approximately half the length of the parameres. Those found in the Central Valley or west of the Southern California Coastal Range have the apical margins of the tergites with dense fringes of orange plumose setae and the cuspis is approximately 3/4 the length of the parameres. Normally, these differences would be considered of importance for differentiating species.

Figures

FIGURES 23 – 30. 23 – 26 Genitalia, dorsal view left, ventral right. 23. Sphaeropthalma blakeii; 24. S. ecarinata; 25. S. militaris; 26. S. triangularis; 27. Dorsal view of Odontophotopsis villosa, female; 28. Anterior view of head of O. villosa, female; 29. Anterior view of head of O. biramosa, male; and 28. Anterior view of head of O. sonora, male.