Tropical and Subtropical Velvet Ants of the Genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) with Descriptions of 45 New Species
Author
MANLEY, DONALD G.
Author
PITTS, JAMES P.
text
Zootaxa
2007
2007-05-31
1487
1
1
128
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1487.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.1487.1.1
11755334
5086787
5790FDAC-C5EE-4ED3-AECE-33C0851E956E
Dasymutilla ocydrome
Mickel
Dasymutilla ocydrome
Mickel, 1928
.
U. S.
Nat. Mus. Bull. 143:292.
Holotype
male,
Phoenix
,
Arizona
,
July 25, 1917
(
W. D. Pierce
) (
No.
40754) [USNM] (examined).
Diagnosis of Male
(Plate C7G). This species can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters, including coloration. It lacks a pit filled with setae on sternum II but has, instead, an area of fine, close punctures, each bearing a fine seta. The pygidium lacks an apical fringe of setae. It has red to yellow concolorous setae on the head, mesosoma, and metasoma. Usually, the integument of the dorsum of the metasoma is ferruginous, while the remainder of the integument is black. In a few specimens where the integument is entirely black, they key out to the
D. californica
/
coccineohirta
couplet. This species is easily distinguished from the others on the basis of the fine punctures on sternum II.
Distribution
.
USA
(
Arizona
,
Kansas
,
New Mexico
,
Texas
,
Utah
);
Mexico
(
Baja California
,
Sinaloa
,
Sonora
).
Remarks
. This species is known only from the male. The synonymy of
D. atrifulva
with
D. nogalensis
raises the question of whether
D. connectens
and
D. ocydrome
might also represent the two sexes of the same species. The
two females
share the unusual characters of the squared/sulcate femora along with the presence of a scutellar scale and dense shaggy setae. The males share the unusual character of sternum II having fine, close punctures, each bearing a fine seta. Although
D. connectens
and
D. ocydrome
do not share the same color pattern (which is not uncommon among
Dasymutilla
species
), they do share a similar distribution. This is a relatively uncommon species. Only about
20 specimens
have been examined.