Dasymutilla foxi
Species of velvet ant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
| Dasymutilla foxi | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Mutillidae |
| Genus: | Dasymutilla |
| Species: | D. foxi |
| Binomial name | |
| Dasymutilla foxi Cockerell, 1894 | |
This species was first described by entomologist Theodore D. A. Cockerell and is named for William J. Fox.[2] Dasymutilla phoenix and Dasymutilla dugesii have been synonymized with this species.[3] 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]
