Sphaeropthalma difficilis ( Baker )

Pitts, James P., Wilson, Joseph S., Williams, Kevin A. & Boehme, Nicole F., 2010, Nocturnal velvet ant males (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Deep Canyon, California including four new species and a fifth new species from Owens Lake Valley, California, Zootaxa 2553, pp. 1-34 : 21

Sphaeropthalma difficilis ( Baker)

Photopsis difficilis Baker, 1905 . Invertebrata Pacifica 1: 114. Male. Holotype data: Claremont, California (CUIC). Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) maricopella purismella Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 17. Male. Holotype data: Lost. Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) maricopella maricopella Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 17. Male. Holotype data: Lost. Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) maricopella castanea Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 17. Male. Holotype data: Lost. Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) californiense californiense Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 18. Male. Holotype data:

Lost.

Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) californiense fuscatella Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 18. Male. Holotype data: Lost. Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) quijotoa quijotoa Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 18. Male. Holotype data: Lost. Sphaeropthalma ( Micromutilla) quijotoa parrasia Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 18. Male. Holotype data: Lost.

Diagnosis of male. This species is recognized by the deeply excised mandible ( Fig. 21 ) with the tooth forming an acute angle and having a vertical apex, the lack of mesosternal processes, the marginal cell shorter (approximately 0.75X) than the stigma, the first segment of the metasoma petiolate with the second segment and densely punctate, the second sternite with an anteromedial tumid region, and the genitalia with a long cylindrical cuspis that is setose ventrally with the apex having longer denser setae and parameres with dense setae located medially, but internally directed, along the internal margin (see Fig. 3 in Pitts et al. 2009).

Diagnosis of female. Pitts et al. (2009) associated the female.

Material examined. California, Riverside Co., Deep Canyon: 1 male, 3. May.1963, 2 males, 16. May.1963, 1 male, 18. May.1969, 1 male, 24. May.1969, 15 males, 23–24. May.2007, 1 male, 30.May.1964, coll. M. Irwin, 2 males, 1–4. Jun.1970, 3 males, 5–13. Jun.1973, 1 male, 13–18. Jun.1969, 1 male, 18. Jun.1969, 1 male, 13–20. Jun.1973, 1 male, 20. Jun.1963, 1 male, 29.Jun–6. Jul.1973, 3 males, 24–26. Jul.1969, 1 male, 28.Jul–17. Aug.1973, 1 male, 5–7. Aug.1969, 1 male, 11. Sep.1969, 1 male, 26.Sep–6. Oct.1969, 1 male, 6– 8. Oct.1969, 1 male, 29.Oct–2.Nov.1969.

Distribution. Found throughout most of the southwestern USA.

Remarks. The males of this species are difficult to separate from S. django Pitts and Wilson and it is currently impossible to separate the females of S. difficilis and S. django based on morphology alone. Sphaeropthalma django is known only from the Algodones Sand Dunes and should not cause any problems with identification of Deep Canyon specimens.

Figures

FIGURES 13 – 24. Head, anterior view; except ventral view 17. 13. Odontophotopsis serca; 14. O. setifera; 15. Sphaeropthalma. amphion; 16. S. angulifera; 17. S. angulifera; 18. S. arota; 19. S. becki; 20. S. blakeii; 21. S. difficilis; 22. S. ferruginea; 23. S. ignacio; and 24. S. macswaini.

FIGURES 1 – 12. Head, anterior view. 1. Acanthophotopsis falciformis; 2. Acrophotopsis campylognatha; 3. Odontophotopsis acmaea; 4. O. armata; 5. O. aufidia; 6. O. bellona; 7. O. biramosa; 8. O. clypeata; 9. O. inconspicua; 10. O. mamata; 11. O. melicausa; and 12. O. quadrispinosa.