Sphaeropthalma marpesia
Creators: name: Wilson, Joseph S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Mutillidae
Sphaeropthalma
Sphaeropthalma marpesia

description: Sphaeropthalma marpesia (Blake, 1879)
Mutilla Marpesia Blake, 1879. Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 7: 247. ♀. Syntype data: Kansas; Utah (ANSP).
Sphaerophthalma [sic.] luteola Blake, 1886. Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 13: 235. ♀. Syntype data: Kansas; Utah (ANSP). Synonymized by Krombein (1951).
Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) imperialiformis Viereck, 1906. Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 32: 189. ♂. Holotype data: Kansas, Morton Co. (SEMC). Synonymized by Pitts (2006).
Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) imperialiformis imperialiformis (Viereck) in Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 37: 34. ♂. Synonymized by Pitts (2006).
Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) imperialiformis maricopae Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 37: 34. ♂. Holotype data: Arizona, Phoenix (UMSP). Synonymized by Pitts (2006).
Diagnosis of male. This species can be separated from all other nocturnal species by its lack of mesosternal processes and by its coloration; the integument is black throughout except metasomal segments 3–6 are orangish and by the setal coloration of the vertex, pronotum, mesonotum and metasomal segment 2 that varies from silver to orange. The mandible is moderately dilated, distally little or scarcely wider than at tooth, the ventral basal tooth of the mandible is small, and the apex is vertical (see Pitts, 2006: Fig. 6) Also, the head is quadrate posteriorly being long and parallel behind the eyes (see Pitts, 2006: Fig. 2), the clypeus is deeply depressed below the dorsal mandibular margin, the sternal felt line is present, and by characteristic genitalic morphology (see Pitts 2006: Figs 14–16).
Diagnosis of female. This species is easily recognized by its unique color pattern (see Pitts, 2006: Fig. 25). Other useful characters include the petiolate metasomal segment 1, the small ventral angulation located basally on the mandible, the granulate pygidium, and the presence of plumose setae especially on the fringes of the metasomal terga.
Material examined. Mutilla Marpesia Syntype data: Kansas, Type no. 4542 (ANSP). Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) imperialiformis Holotype data: Kansas, Morton Co., 3200’, June 1902, F.H. Snow (SEMC). Sphaeropthalma (Photopsis) imperialiformis maricopae Holotype data: Arizona, Phoenix, 25 September 1935, R.H. Crandall (UMSP).
Distribution. USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington) and northern Mexico (Sonora).
Activity. This species was not collected during the course of this study.
Remarks. No specimens of this species were seen from JTNP (Table 2 & 3), but given that it occurs all around the park and throughout the Southwest, it likely occurs at JTNP as well. Pitts (2006) associated the females of this species and discussed the taxonomy of this species, as well as other members of the S. imperialis species-group (Pitts & Sadler 2015).
description: Published as part of Wilson, Joseph S., 2017, Nocturnal Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, California with the description of three new species, pp. 329-367 in Zootaxa 4319 (2) on page 355, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4319.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/892295