''Dasymutilla scitula'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
velvet ant
Velvet ants (Mutillidae) are a family (biology), family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their resemblance to an ant, and their dense pile of hair, whic ...
native to North America.
This species is "restricted to the
Great Basin ecoregion," and the females must be carefully distinguished from ''
Dasymutilla arenivaga
''Dasymutilla'' is a wasp genus belonging to the family Mutillidae. Their larvae are external parasites to various types of ground-nesting Hymenoptera. Most of the velvet ants in North Americathe wingless females of which are conspicuous as color ...
''.
References
Insects described in 1928
Hymenoptera of North America
Mutillidae
Taxa named by Clarence E. Mickel
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