Species diversity and new sex associations of the mutillid fauna of Trinidad (Hymenoptera)

Mutillidae are sexually dimorphic wasps with females always lacking wings and males typically fully winged. Additionally, many species have dissimilar color patterns in their two sexes. Because of this dimorphism, many species are currently recognized from only one sex. This is especially apparent in the Neotropical Region; for example, the genus Traumatomutilla includes over 200 described species, but only three are known from both sexes. The island of Trinidad is less than 5,000 km² in area and supports a relatively small mutillid fauna: 30 species in 12 genera. Most of these genera include fewer than three species in Trinidad. In these cases, sex associations can be made simply on the basis of generic placement, body size, and distribution. Without the aid of field observations or molecular data, we associated the sexes of 12 species that were formerly known from a single sex. The associations recorded here provide valuable morphological data that can be used to associate sexes in mainland South America.