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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Velvet Ants (Mutillidae) » Sphaeropthalminae
Photo#169241
which mutilid
Copyright © 2008 Kojun Kanda

which mutilid
Bear Canyon, Pima County, Arizona, USA
February 10, 2008
Size: 7mm
found under a rock. Here it is still cold and curled up. After taking photo, it seemed to warm up and sprinted away.

Images of this individual: tag all
which mutilid which mutilid
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Contributed by Kojun Kanda on 11 February, 2008 - 1:11pm
Last updated 11 February, 2008 - 5:54pm

Very cool
This is a really cool specimen, it is exciting to see another species that overwinters as an adult. From the type of setae on the thorax (erect and plumose) it looks a lot like the undescribed female of Laminatilla lamellifera. Like Will and George said, nocturnal mutillids are sort of a mess and very difficult to ID, and only about 10 of the 200 so species are even known.
… Kevin Williams, 14 February, 2008 - 7:32pm login or register to post comments

 
darn!
shoulda caught it then. Because it was inactive while I photographed it I let my guard down and wasn't ready to catch it when it sprinted into the brush.
… Kojun Kanda, 14 February, 2008 - 8:26pm login or register to post comments

 
Don't feel too bad
They are a sneaky bunch, always zigging when you expect them to zag. It is really exciting to see the photographs, and tons of velvet ants have escaped from me before.
… Kevin Williams, 14 February, 2008 - 10:48pm login or register to post comments

Hey if you find any more of t
Hey if you find any more of these, hold onto them!
… William Ericson, 11 February, 2008 - 7:10pm login or register to post comments

Sphaeropthalminae sp.
Its a nocturnal female in the subfamily Sphaeropthalminae, possibly in the genus Sphaeropthalma. Nocturnal females are not known very well, so it could belong to one of several genera.
… George Waldren, 11 February, 2008 - 2:02pm login or register to post comments

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