Dasymutilla foxi explained

Dasymutilla foxi is a species of velvet ant found in Mexico and the southwestern United States.^{[1] [2]} Dasymutilla foxi is locally common, and "setal coloration is highly variable; each of the body segments varies from whitish to reddish, and most eastern populations (Colorado, Kansas, Texas) have a black setal patch on the mesosoma."^[3]

This species was first described by entomologist Theodore D. A. Cockerell and is named for . Dasymutilla phoenix and Dasymutilla dugesii have been synonymized with this species. According to C. E. Mickel in 1928, "The females vary in size from 5 to 11 mm...A note on two of the specimens collected by Cockerell states that this species is parasitic in the nests of Diadasia species."^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dasymutilla flammifera . iNaturalist . 2024-11-19 . en-US.
2. Web site: Species Dasymutilla foxi . 2024-11-19 . bugguide.net . en.
3. Manley . Donald G. . Williams . Kevin A. . Pitts . James P. . 2020-05-11 . Keys to Nearctic Velvet Ants of the Genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), with Notes on Taxonomic Changes since Krombein (1979) . Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington . 122 . 2 . 335 . 10.4289/0013-8797.122.2.335 . 0013-8797.
4. Mickel . Clarence E. . 1928 . Biological and Taxonomic Investigations on the Mutillid Wasps . Bulletin of the United States National Museum . Washington, D.C. . U.S. Government Printing Office . 143 . 1–351 . 10.5479/si.03629236.143.1.