Dasymutilla gloriosa ( Saussure, 1868 )

Williams, Kevin A., 2023, Taxonomic updates for diurnal velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) in the United States of America, Zootaxa 5301 (1), pp. 105-123 : 109-110

Dasymutilla gloriosa ( Saussure, 1868)

( Figs 11–15 )

Mutilla gloriosa Saussure, 1868 (1867) : 359, ♀.

Mutilla tecta Cresson, 1875: 119 , ♀.

Dasymutilla reperticia Mickel, 1928: 287 , ♁.

Dasymutilla chisos Mickel, 1928: 284 , ♁. New synonym.

Material examined. Dasymutilla chisos . USA: Idaho: Owyhee Co., Bruneau Dunes State Park , K.A. Williams, 6.VIII.2011 (1 male, EMUS); Nevada: Churchill Co.: Blow Sand Mountains : R.C. Bechtel, 28.VI.1979 (1 male, NVDA) ; R.C. Bechtel , 2.VII.1979 (1 male, NVDA) ; Mud Springs, Dixie Valley , R.C. Bechtel, 29.VI.1970 (1 male, NVDA) ; Mineral Co., 3 mi. [4.8 km] S Marriett, F.D. Parker, 16.VIII.1998 (6 males, EMUS) ; Nye Co., Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge , N. Boehme, 4.VIII.2009 (1 male, EMUS) . Additionally , 73 males from California and Texas (CASC, CISC, EMUS) were examined. Dasymutilla gloriosa . USA: Idaho: Owyhee Co., Bruneau Dunes State Park , K.A. Williams, 6.VIII.2011 (3 females, EMUS) ; Nevada: Mineral Co., 3 mi. [4.8 km] S Marriett, F.D. Parker, 16.VIII.1998 (1 female, EMUS) ; Nye Co., Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, various dates and collectors (19 females, EMUS) . Seven hundred additional females and three hundred twenty-eight males were examined from throughout the range of this species (ASUT, CASC, CISC, EMUS, NVDA, UCDC).

Distribution. Mexico (Baja California Norte and Sur, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora) and USA (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah).

Remarks. The males formerly known as D. chisos ( Fig. 11 ) are identical to other D. gloriosa males, except in setal coloration ( Figs 12–14 ). Multiple specimens have been recovered with interspersed black and orange setae on the head and mesosoma, revealing that setal coloration is not discrete in this case. Females of D. gloriosa have been collected alongside D. chisos in Idaho and Nevada (see material examined above) and in Texas ( Mickel 1928). This information reveals that D. chisos is a junior synonym of D. gloriosa .

Figures

FIGURES 11–16. Dasymutilla gloriosa (Saussure, 1868) and D. pseudopappus (Cockerell, 1895). 11–14. D. gloriosa, lateral habitus, male. 15, 16. Pygidial plate illustration, female. 11. Inyo County, California; head and mesosoma setae entirely black, formerly D. chisos Mickel, 1928. 12. Kern County, California; head and mesosoma setae mostly black, mesoscutellum with orange setae. 13. San Bernardino County, California; head setae black, mesosoma setae orange dorsally. 14. Sonora, Mexico; head and mesosoma with orange dorsal setae. 15. D. gloriosa. 16. D. pseudopappus.