Journal of Hymenoptera Research (Aug 2020)
Phoretic copulation in the velvet ant Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica (Lepeletier) (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae): A novel behavior for Sphaeropthalminae with a synthesis of mating strategies in Mutillidae
Abstract
Read online Read online Read online
Phoretic copulation, a form of phoresy in which a male physically transports a female by flight and/or foot from their initial site of contact before mating, is newly recorded in the Nearctic velvet ant Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica (Lepeletier, 1845) (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). Further, this is the first record of the behavior in the species-rich subfamily Sphaeropthalminae. A description of the S. pensylvanica mating observation and photographs are provided. All published observations of copulation events in Mutillidae are critically reviewed in the context of mating strategy, and new terminology is proposed for the mating strategies currently known to occur in the family.