Timulla rufogastra ( Lepeletier, 1845 )

Bartholomay, Pedro R., Waldren, George C. & Oliveira, Marcio L., 2017, Observation of a mixed-sex, mixed-species aggregation of velvet ants, genus Timulla Ashmead, 1899 (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) in the Brazilian Amazon, Roraima, with a new synonymy, Zootaxa 4362 (1), pp. 135-140 : 138-139

Timulla rufogastra ( Lepeletier, 1845)

Mutilla rufogastra Lepeletier, 1845: 629 . Lectotype ♂ (MRSN), “Amer. mer.”, designated by Mickel (1937b: 174), not examined. Timulla (Timulla) eriphyla Mickel, 1938: 591 . Holotype ♀ (MNHN). Syn. nov.

Type material examined. Timulla eriphyla Mickel—holotype ♀ (MNHN), [label 1, tan:] JUIN [// label 2, green:] GUYANE FRANÇAISE / ROCHES DE KOUROU / COLL LE MOULT [// label 3, light brown:] MUSEUM PARIS / COLL. J DE GAULLE / 1919 [// label 4, tan:] 27 [// label 5, red:] HOLOTYPE / Timulla (Timulla) / eriphyla / ♀ C.E. Mickel. Paratypes: VENEZUELA. L. Meinert (1♀, NHMD); Vargas. Macuto, 30.x.1891, L. Meinert (1♀, NHMD). Voucher specimens. BRAZIL. Roraima. Estação Ecológica de Maracá, 03°21′52.00″ N 61°26′07.1″ W, 12.xii.2015, P.R. Bartholomay & F.F. Xavier-Filho (1♀, 1♂ [in copula], INPA); same label data (1♀, 1♂ [in copula], EMUS). Additional material examined. COSTA RICA. San José. San Esidro del General, ii.1993, F.D. Parker (3♂, EMUS). TRINIDAD. Arima Valley, Simla Field Station, 13–14.iv.1977, malaise trap, P. Feinsinger (1♂, EMUS); Talparo, 6– 22.vii.1988, H.L. Dozier (1♀, EMUS); 24.v–7.vi.1990 (1♀, EMUS); Talparo, Couva-Tabaquite-Talparo Region, 4.vii.1988, H.L. Dozier (1♀, EMUS); 22.vii.1988 (1♂, EMUS). VENEZUELA. Mérida. Mérida (2♂, NHMD).

Distribution. Southern Central America ( Costa Rica [new record] and Panama), northern South America ( Brazil [new record], Colombia, French Guiana, Trinidad, and Venezuela) and Lesser Antilles ( Trinidad) ( Mickel, 1937b, 1938, 1952; Cambra & Quintero, 1993).

Host. Tachysphex inconspicuus Kirby ( Hymenoptera : Crabronidae ) ( Callan, 1942, 1950 [both as Tachysphex blattidicus Williams ], 1990, 1993).

Remarks. The lectotype male of Mutilla rufogastra Lepeletier was not examined. However, the male of this species is among the most distinctive of Timulla . The association of T. rufogastra (Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau) and T. eriphyla Mickel had been suspected based on morphology and overlap in distribution; the collection of two mating pairs in the aggregation described in this study confirm the association.