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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies (Pompiloidea) » Velvet Ants (Mutillidae) » Sphaeropthalminae » Dasymutillini » Dasymutilla

Genus Dasymutilla

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Remarks · Works Cited
Tucson Velvet-ant - Dasymutilla foxi - female Dasymutilla occidentalis - female dasymutilla gloriosa - Dasymutilla gloriosa Female Dasymutilla sackenii? - Dasymutilla - female Dasymutilla foxi? - Dasymutilla foxi - male Dasymutilla - Velvet ant. ? - Dasymutilla - male male velvet ant-- Dasymutilla sp.? - Dasymutilla - male Dasymutilla myrice? - Dasymutilla - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Pompiloidea (Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies)
Family Mutillidae (Velvet Ants)
Subfamily Sphaeropthalminae
Tribe Dasymutillini
Genus Dasymutilla
Explanation of Names
Dasymutilla Ashmead, 1899
from the Latin dasy-, after the Ancient Greek δασύς, ('hairy') + Mutilla (the nominate genus of the family)
Numbers
89 in our area(1) (98 spp. listed in 2020(2) prior to additional synomymies)
Size
5-25 mm
Identification
key to spp. in (2)
Remarks
This genus includes D. occidentalis and D. klugii known for their large size (~1") and painful sting. However, members of this genus vary widely in sting intensity from anywhere between a 1 and a 3 on Schmidt's sting pain index.(3)
Works Cited
1.Velvet ants of North America
Williams, Kevin A; Pan, Aaron D.; & Wilson, Joseph S. 2024. Princeton Field Guides, 145: 440 pp.
2.Keys to nearctic Velvet Ants of the genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), with notes on taxonomic changes...
Manley D.G. , Williams K.A., Pitts J.P. 2020. Proc. Ent Soc. Wash. 122: 335-414.
3.The Sting of the Wild: The Story of the Man Who Got Stung for Science
Justin O. Schmidt. 2016. John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD.
Contributed by Joel Kits on 17 March, 2005 - 11:22pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, PaleoJon
Last updated 29 May, 2024 - 6:54pm

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