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

description: Sphaeropthalma difficilis (Baker, 1905)
Photopsis difficilis Baker, 1905. Invertebrata Pacifica 1: 114. ♂. Holotype data: California Claremont (CUIC).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) maricopella purismella Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 17. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) maricopella maricopella Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 17. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) maricopella castanea Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 17. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) californiense californiense Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 18. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) californiense fuscatella Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 18. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) quijotoa quijotoa Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 18. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Sphaeropthalma (Micromutilla) quijotoa parrasia Schuster, 1958. Ent. Amer. 37: 18. ♂. Holotype data: Lost. Synonymized by Ferguson (1967).
Diagnosis of male. This species has a deeply excised vertical mandible with the tooth forming an acute angle (see Pitts et al. 2009: Fig. 38), lacks mesosternal processes, and has the marginal cell shorter than the stigma, the first segment of the metasoma petiolate with the second segment and densely punctate, the second sternum 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 Pitts et al. 2009: Fig. 3).
Diagnosis of female. The female of this species has the dorsum of the body covered with sparse erect brachyplumose setae, but the integument is not obscured, the ventral margin of the mandible with a deep excision subtended by a large rounded tooth and lacks a dorsal tooth at the termination of the dorsal carina, the head below eyes is parallel, the head evenly rounded in lateral view, the first metasoma segment is petiolate with the second segment and the pygidium is striate to granulate.
Material examined. Holotype data: California Claremont (CUIC). JTNP: 18–21.Jul.2012: 17 ♂ N9; 24 ♂ N7; 38 ♂ N5; 15 ♂ N3; 3 ♂ N1; 25 ♂ T; 37 ♂ S1; 21 ♂ S3; 10 ♂ S5; 6 ♂ S7; 5 ♂ S9; 26 ♂ S11; 8 ♂ S13; 65 ♂ S18. 26–28.Aug.2012: 1 ♂ N9; 9 ♂ N7; 2 ♂ N5; 5 ♂ N3; 4 ♂ N1; 3 ♂ T; 13 ♂ S1; 24 ♂ S3; 20 ♂ S5; 56 ♂ S7; 17 ♂ S9; 25 ♂ S11; 15 ♂ S13; 15 ♂ S18. 22–24.Sep.2012: 2 ♂ N9; 4 ♂ N7; 3 ♂ N5; 20 ♂ N3; 10 ♂ N1; 11 ♂ T; 12 ♂ S1; 25 ♂ S3; 27 ♂ S5; 46 ♂ S7; 62 ♂ S9; 12 ♂ S11; 44 ♂ S13; 23 ♂ S18. 26–28.Oct.2012: 3 ♂ S7; 5 ♂ S9; 3 ♂ S18.
Distribution. USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah) and northern Mexico (Baja California and Sonora).
Activity. This species is seemingly active throughout the season at JTNP.
Remarks. Wilson & Pitts (2012) performed a phylogenetic analysis of S. difficilis and used this species to identify potential Pleistocene refugia in the North American cold deserts. Their research on this species provided evidence that in addition to desert-like conditions persisting through the ice age in parts of the Nearctic warm deserts, many areas maintained desert-like characteristics in the regional cold deserts. It is abundant throughout its range (Table 2 & 3; Ferguson 1967; Pitts et al. 2009, 2010a; Wilson et al. 2010; Wilson & Pitts 2012; Boehme et al. 2012). This species is closely related to S. django, which is restricted to the Algodones Sand Dunes (Pitts et al. 2009).
Although most of the holotypes of the Schuster species synonymized with S. difficilis are listed as “lost”, they were likely never labeled as holotypes (Ferguson 1967). This holds for most other Schuster types that are missing as well.
This species is currently placed in the S. difficilis 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 pages 353-354, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4319.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/892295