Systematic studies on the mutillidae hymenoptera of india

Abstract

Among all insect orders, Hymenoptera is one of the largest insect orders (Huber, 2009). Over 153000 species are recorded worldwide from 132 families and 8423 genera (Anguiar et al, 2013). The Hymenoptera are divided into two suborders, the Symphyta (hymenopterans without a wasp waist) and the Apocrita (hymenopterans with a wasp waist) (Anguiar et al, 2013). Apocritians are further divided into the Parasitica (parasitoid wasps) and Aculeata (stinging wasps). The family Mutillidae belongs to the superfamily Vespoidea of the suborder Apocrita. newlineMutillidae is commonly known as quotVelvet antsquot because of the dense hair that covers their bodies. Though the velvet ants resemble Ants (Formicidae) they can be easily differentiated by non-petiolate abdomen, whereas all Ants species having abdomen with the petiole. Adult mutillids are predominantly black, brown, or reddish and usually marked with bright spots or bands of silvery-white, yellow or golden pubescence. Some species are brilliantly metallic in shades of bronze, green, blue, or purple. The exoskeleton of velvet ants is tremendously thick and hard to such an extent that it is difficult to pierce pins through the specimens. Body size may vary from 6 to 30 mm (0.25-1.5 inch). newlineThey have strong sexual dimorphism: the males are winged (rarely brachypterous or apterous) and possess a normal apocritan mesosoma, while the females are entirely apterous, and most of them exhibit a complete fusion of the mesosomal sclerites (Brothers, 1995). This strong sexual dimorphism has prompted descriptions of numerous species based on single-sex only (Quintero and Cambra, 1994; Lelej and Krombein 2001; Pitts and Parker 2003) and in most cases, the males are so different from the females that only males and females caught in the act of copulation can be claimed to belong to the same species with certainty. Sex association solely based on adult morphology is impossible. newline