Abstract
A study of Schuster’s Sphaeropthalma imperialis and S. edwardsii species-groups was completed. Sphaeropthalma megagnathos aurifera Schuster is a junior synonym of S. megagnathos Schuster and S. edwardsii flammifera Schuster is a junior synonym of S. edwardsii (Cresson). New sex associations make S. imperialiformis maracopae Schuster and S. imperialiformis imperialiformis (Viereck) junior synonyms of S. marpesia (Blake), and S. erato (Blake) a junior synonym of S. imperialis (Blake). The S. imperialis species-group is redefined to contain S. imperialis (Blake) and S. marpesia, which were previously placed in the S. imperialis group sensu Schuster (1958), and S. megagnathos and S. edwardsii, which were previously placed in S. edwardsii group sensu Schuster (1958). The female of S. edwardsii is described and the females of S. imperialis and S. marpesia are redescribed. Keys are presented for both sexes of this species-group.References
Blake, C.A. (1871) Synopsis of the Mutillidae of North America. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 3, 217–265.
Blake, C.A. (1879) Catalogue of the Mutillidae of North America, with descriptions of new species. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 7, 243–254.
Blake, C.A. (1886) Monograph of the Mutillidae of North America. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 13, 179–286.
Cresson, E.T. (1875) Descriptions of new species of Mutilla. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 5, 119–120.
Ferguson, W.E. (1967) Male sphaeropthalmine mutillid wasps of the Nevada Test Site. Brigham Young University Science Bulletin, Biological Series, 8, 1–26.
Manley, D.G. & Pitts., J.P. (2002) Key to the genera and subgenera of Mutillidae of America North of Mexico. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 11, 72–101.
Mickel, C.E. (1938) Photopsoid mutillids collected by Dr. K.A. Salman at Eagle Lake, California (Hymenoptera). The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 14, 178–185.
Mickel, C.E. (1963) Description of the female of Dilophotopsis stenognatha Schuster. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 39, 183–184.
Mickel, C.E. (1974) Mutillidae Miscellanea: Taxonomy and distribution. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 67, 461–471.
Pitts, J.P. (2005) Description of a new species in the Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica species-group (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). Zootaxa, 1050, 39–43.
Pitts, J.P. & McHugh, J.V. (1999) Stethophotopsis, a new genus of Sphaeropthalminae (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) from Arizona. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 9, 29–33.
Pitts, J.P. & Manley, D.G. (2002) Description of the females of Stethophotopsis Pitts and Photopsioides Schuster (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 104, 672–679.
Pitts, J.P. & Parker, F.D. (2005) Description of the female, redescription of the male, and host associations of the Nearctic species Sphaeropthalma jacala Schuster (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). Zootaxa, 1011, 1–10.
Pitts, J.P., Parker, F.D., & Pitts-Singer, T.L. (2004) A review of the Sphaeropthalma uro species-group (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), with taxonomic changes. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 77, 223–234.
Schuster, R.M. (1958) A revision of the Sphaeropthalmine Mutillidae of America North of Mexico. II. Entomologica Americana, 37, 1–130.
Viereck, H.L. (1906) Notes and descriptions of Hymenoptera from the Western United States. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 32, 185–189.