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Issue: Vol. 5684 No. 1: 25 Aug. 2025
Type: Monograph
Published: 2025-08-25
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5684.1.1
Page range: 1-238
Abstract views: 202
PDF downloaded: 7

Color syndrome terminology for velvet ant females (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae and Myrmosidae)

Plant Pest Diagnostics Center; California Department of Food & Agriculture; 3294 Meadowview Road; Sacramento CA 95832; USA.
Hymenoptera Aculeata taxonomy Müllerian mimicry insect diagnostics

Abstract

Velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae and Myrmosidae) are recognized as model organisms for studies in Müllerian mimicry and most velvet ant females exhibit aposematic color patterns. Mimicry rings, however, are inadequate for comparing coloration across different regions and among cryptically colored insects. Based on photographs of over 2800 velvet ant females, new terminology is developed for color syndromes. This can provide a starting point for future mimicry studies in various parts of the World and will simplify discussions of color similarities across geographical and phylogenetic space. Finally, this paper will be a useful reference for velvet ant identification, as dorsal habitus photographs are provided of expertly identified velvet ants representing more than half of the World’s species known from females.

Twenty-one new combinations are proposed: Darditilla albovittata (André, 1898), comb. nov. (from Mutilla Linnaeus, 1758); Darditilla curiosa (Cresson, 1902), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca argyrospila (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca bilineata (Klug, 1821), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca blandina (Smith, 1879), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca boliviana (André, 1906), comb. nov. (from Ephuta Say, 1836); Pseudomethoca confinis (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca extinctor (Cameron, 1894), comb. nov. (from Sphaerophthalma[!] Blake, 1871); Pseudomethoca hilaris (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca imbecilla (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca lycimnia (Cameron, 1894), comb. nov. (from Sphaerophthalma[!]); Pseudomethoca macropis (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca minutoria (Cameron, 1895), comb. nov. (from Sphaerophthalma[!]); Pseudomethoca orithyia (Cameron, 1894), comb. nov. (from Sphaerophthalma[!]); Pseudomethoca paulula (Cresson, 1902), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca polyspila (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca pumila (Burmeister, 1854), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca tantula (Cresson, 1902), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca turnalis (Cresson, 1902), comb. nov. (from Mutilla); Pseudomethoca vulnerithorax (André, 1906), comb. nov. (from Ephuta); and Xystromutilla leucogramma (Gerstaecker, 1874), comb. nov. (from Mutilla).

 

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How to Cite

Williams, K.A. (2025) Color syndrome terminology for velvet ant females (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae and Myrmosidae). Zootaxa, 5684 (1), 1–238. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5684.1.1