Dasymutilla paraparadoxa Luz, Bartholomay & Williams, sp. nov.

Dasymutilla paraparadoxa Luz, Bartholomay & Williams, sp. nov.

(Figs 5, 6, 11, 12)

Dasymutilla phya: Wilson et al. 2015: fig. 4, ♀ Diagnosis. FEMALE. The female of this species can be separated from other paradoxa group members by the following combination of characters: the body is predominantly black; the clypeus has a basal longitudinal tubercle; the pale setal markings of the head and mesosoma are silvery-white; the discal spots of T2 are orange; T2 and T3 medially clothed with black setae only; and the pygidium is defined by strong carinae laterally.

Description. FEMALE. Body length 9.5–10.5 mm. Coloration. Body reddish-black to black except flagellar venter and mandibular center reddish-brown and T2 having two pairs of orange circular spots, anterior pair of spots subcircular, slightly smaller than posterior transversely ovate pair. Tibial spurs black. Setae of head, legs, and T1 sparse silvery-white, except vertex thickly clothed with pale golden setal patch. Propleuron ventral half, mesopleuron, metapleuron and anteromedial pronotal patch with dense silvery-white setae; medial third of dorsal propodeal face and transverse patch on posterior half of mesonotum with dense silvery-white setae; remaining mesosomal setae black. Anteromedial patch on T1, T2-3 laterally, T4-5 entirely, T6 dorsally, posterior band on S2, S3-4 clothed with silvery-white setae; orange T2 disc spots with sparse erect white setae; remaining metasomal setae black. Head. Rounded posteriorly. Head width subequal to pronotal width. Eye almost circular, protruding. Front, vertex and gena reticulate. Clypeus with medial longitudinal basal tubercle, ventrally with transverse smooth ridge. Genal carina sharp, extending anteriorly nearly to hypostomal carina. Occipital carina simple. Mandible oblique, tapering, bidentate apically, unarmed ventrally. Antennal scrobe with dorsal carina. Flagellomere 1 2.0 × pedicel length; flagellomere 2 1.7 × pedicel length. Mesosoma. Mesosomal length (measured from anterior pronotal dorsum to posterior propodeal dorsum) 1.5 × greatest width (at lateral pronotal tubercles). Mesosomal dorsum reticulate. Humeral carina sharp. Epaulet dentiform. Scutellar scale absent. Propodeum coarsely reticulate, posterolateral angle rounded. Metasoma. T1 narrow and petiolate, somewhat cylindrical, 0.4 × as wide as T2, coarsely reticulate. T2 as long as wide. Disc of T2 with deep oblique punctures each filled with multiple setae, except yellow spots sparsely punctate and setose; S2 moderately punctate. T3–5 and S2-5 densely punctate and setose. T6 with well-defined pygidium, apical and lateral margins carinate, posterolaterally angulate; surface coarsely reticulate. S6 sharply bidentate apically.

MALE. Unknown.

Distribution. Mexico (Quintana Roo), Guatemala.

Etymology. From the Greek prefix para “beside” and the specific epithet of the related species D. paradoxa.

Material examined. Holotype, ♀, GUATEMALA, Peten, Tikal Ruins, 25.VIII.1977, T. Cogley (FSCA). Paratypes, GUATEMALA, Peten, Tikal Ruins, 13.V.1956, T.H. Hubbell (1♀, UMMZ); MEXICO, Quintana Roo, 11 km N Carillo Puerto on 295, 26.X.1991, F.W. Skillman Jr., beaten slash (1♀, FSCA).

Remarks. This new species is closely related to D. paradoxa and D. fasciventris based on its well-defined pygidium and basal clypeal tooth. It bears similar coloration to other Yucatan species, including D. proclea (Cameron, 1895), D. pulchra (Smith, 1855), and Pseudomethoca cleonica (Cameron, 1895) (Wilson et al. 2015). In that study, D. paraparadoxa, sp. nov., was erroneously treated under the name D. phya ( Wilson et al. 2015 ).