Storozhenkotilla binghami ( Lelej, 2005 ) Lelej & Williams & Terine & Okayasu & Parikh & Kumar, 2023

Lelej, Arkady S., Williams, Kevin A., Terine, Joshua B., Okayasu, Juriya, Parikh, Grishma R. & Kumar, Girish P., 2023, Review of the tribe Mutillini (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) from the Oriental Region, Zootaxa 5228 (4), pp. 455-476 : 471-472

Storozhenkotilla binghami ( Lelej, 2005) , comb. nov.

( Figs 55–58 )

Mutilla binghami Lelej, 2005: 35 . Replacement name for Mutilla valida Cameron, 1897 ; Terine et al. 2020a: 3; Pagliano et al. 2020: 227.

Mutilla valida Cameron, 1897: 71 , ♀ (nom. praeocc., non Smith, 1855), type locality: ”Barrackpore” [ India: West Bengal], Rothney leg. [OUMNH]; Bingham 1897: 4, 14, ♀; André, 1902: 71, ♀, India.

Material examined. SRI LANKA: Mannar District: 0.8 km NE Kokmotte Bungalow, Wilpattu National Park , 21– 25.V.1976, K.V. Krombein, P.B. Karunaratne, S. Karunaratne, D.W. Balasooriya, 2♀ [ USNM] . INDIA: Tamil Nadu, Tiruchirappali District, Pudukkottai : XII.1991, T.R.S. Nathan, 1♀ [ SEMC]; XI.1992, T.R.S. Nathan, 1♀ [ SEMC]; XI.2002, T.R.S. Nathan, 1♀ [ FSCA] . INDIA: Karnataka, 15 km N Bangalore [Bengaluru], KT, 23–24.VII.1996, K. Werner & L. Lorenz, 5♀ [ MSNF] .

Distribution. * Sri Lanka, India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal).

Remarks. The type of this species, from West Bengal, is the only specimen of Storozhenkotilla known from northern India. As suggested in the remarks for K. visrara above, there are doubts about the veracity of type localities for many of Cameron’s species. It seems possible that the type could be mislabeled and the genus Storozhenkotilla truly is restricted to a southern Indian and Sri Lankan distribution. Previous studies ( Lelej 2005) considered K. cicatricifera comb. nov. as a member of this genus that could be separated from S. binghami by minor color and sculpture differences (see couplet 5 in key to females above). The form that was previously considered S. cicatricifera ( Figs 57, 58 ) is here treated as a color variant of S. binghami , but further studies could eventually reveal it as a discrete species.

Figures

FIGURES 53–58. Storozhenkotilla ♀♀. 53–54. S. aurofasciata; 55–58. S. binghami; 53, 55, 57. Habitus, dorsal view. 54, 56, 58. Habitus, lateral view. (Photographs by K. Williams).