Velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of the Algodones sand dunes of California, USA
Author
Pitts, James P.
Author
Wilson, Joseph S.
Author
Williams, Kevin A.
Author
Boehme, Nicole F.
text
Zootaxa
2009
2131
1
53
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.188392
4683115e-4971-4b8f-bb75-1a3f9b104521
1175-5326
188392
Acanthophotopsis dorophora
Schuster
Acanthophotopsis dorophora
Schuster, 1958
. Ent. Amer. 37: 13. Male.
Holotype
data: Tucson, Arizona,
26.Aug.1935
. O. Bryant (UMSP).
Diagnosis of male.
The male of this species possesses a tridentate mandible, lacks a fourth mandibular tooth that projects posteriorly over the clypeus, has the posterior margin of head behind eyes elongate, has large conical mesosternal processes, has only a single spur on the mid-tibia, has the paramere of the genitalia squat (e.g.,
Fig. 1
), and has the cuspis curled, but not lobed, apically.
Female.
Unknown, but possibly will be mistaken as a species of
Sphaeropthalma
near
Sphaeropthalma blakeii
and
S. papaga
Schuster
based on male morphology and similarities in ITS1 and ITS2 sequences.
Material examined.
California
,
Imperial Co.
, Algodones Dunes
: Cahuilla Ranger Sta.
10 km
WSW Glamis,
1 male
,
22.Sep–15.Nov.2008
, E. Dreyfus (
UCDC
).
Distribution.
Southern Arizona and southern California. Presumably this species is found throughout the Sonoran Desert into
Mexico
.
Remarks.
This genus contains five described species and one undescribed species that with be treated elsewhere. Females are unknown for this genus. This species is rarely collected on the dunes, or anywhere else in its range, but is wide-ranging and not limited to the Algodones Sand Dunes.