Mutillidae

Pseudophotopsis komarovii, copyright Centre for Biodiversity Genomics.

Belongs within: Pompiloidea.
Contains: Kudakrumiini, Myrmosini, Ticoplinae, Rhopalomutillinae, Sphaeropthalminae, Dasylabrinae, Myrmillinae, Mutillinae.

The Mutillidae, velvet ants, are hairy wasps that usually show significant dimorphism with females being wingless and have the sclerites of the mesosoma fused whereas males are mostly winged with articulated mesosomal plates. In the basal subfamily Myrmosinae, found in Eurasia and North America, females retain an articulated suture between the pro- and mesonotum (Brothers & Lelej 2017).

Synapomorphies (from Brothers & Lelej 2017): Tergum II and sternum I in both sexes, tergum II overlying lateral extremities of sternum I; scape in female with flangelike expansion above radicle, angled; wings absent in female; metacoxal cavities closed in female; tergum II with stridulitrum in both sexes (lost in some subgroups); sternum I in both sexes depressed posteriorly, constricted and abutting sternum II; hind wing in male with jugal lobe reduced; penis valve (gonapophysis IX) with apex dorsally produced, ventral tooth about midway (further modified in most subgroups).

Mutillidae [Cretavidae, Sphaeropthalmina]
    |  i. s.: Smicromutilla Mickel 1964 LB08
    |           `-*S. powelli Mickel 1964 LB08
    |         Cretavus Sharov 1957 LB08
    |           `--*C. sibiricus Sharov 1957 LB08
    |         Scaptopoda Lynch Arribálzaga 1878 (n. d.) LB08
    |           `--*S. pusilla Lynch Arribálzaga 1878 LB08
    |--Myrmosinae [Kudakrumiinae, Myrmosidae] BL17
    |    |--Kudakrumiini BL17
    |    `--Myrmosini BL17
    `--+--Pseudophotopsis André 1896 BL17, LB08 (see below for synonymy)
       |    |--*P. komarovii (Radoszkowski 1885) [=Agama komarovii] LB08
       |    |--P. asiatica Suárez 1965 [=Ephutomma asiatica] LB08
       |    |--P. binghami Bischoff 1920 BL17
       |    |--P. continua (Fabricius 1804) BL17 [=Mutilla continua LB08, *Sphinctomutilla continua LB08]
       |    |--P. irana (Skorikov 1935) BL17
       |    |--‘Agama’ kokpetica Radoszkowski 1885 [=Agama kotepetica (l. c.), *Alloneurion kokpeticum] LB08
       |    `--P. schachruda (Skorikov 1935) BL17
       `--+--Ticoplinae BL17
          `--+--Rhopalomutillinae BL17
             `--+--Sphaeropthalminae BL17
                `--+--Dasylabrinae BL17
                   `--+--Myrmillinae BL17
                      `--Mutillinae BL17

Pseudophotopsis André 1896 BL17, LB08 [incl. Alloneurion Ashmead 1899 LB08, Sphinctomutilla André 1899 LB08; Pseudophotopsidinae]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BL17] Brothers, D. J., & A. S. Lelej. 2017. Phylogeny and higher classification of Mutillidae (Hymenoptera) based on morphological reanalyses. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 60: 1–97.

[LB08] Lelej, A. S., & D. J. Brothers. 2008. The genus-group names of Mutillidae (Hymenoptera) and their type species, with a new genus, new name, new synonymies, new combinations and lectotypifications. Zootaxa 1889: 1–79.

Last updated: 11 March 2021.