Rhopalomutillinae Schuster, 1949

Subfamily Rhopalomutillinae Schuster, 1949

This small subfamily is widespread in the Afrotropical and Oriental Regions. This subfamily had been represented by the single genus Rhopalomutilla André, 1901 until Brothers (2015) revised the genus-level classification and recognized four genera. The genus Pherotilla Brothers, 2015 is distributed in both regions, while the other three genera are known from the Afrotropical Region only ( Brothers 2015). Hosts and other ecological features are unknown for the entire subfamily. However, the body shape and color of rhopalomutilline females are suggestive of subterranean habitats and potential myrmecophily ( Brothers 1989, 2015). Although rhopalomutillines are generally rarely sampled, males can be abundant in East Asian tropical forests and collected in Malaise traps in large numbers (JO pers. obs.).

Genus Pherotilla Brothers, 2015

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B716E7F3-C2A0-4CF9-81A3-10F101AE05CD

Pherotilla Brothers, 2015: 10 , ♂ ♀; Brothers et al. 2019: 582; Pagliano et al. 2020: 25. Type species: Rhopalomutilla mlanjeana Bischoff, 1920 (♂ ♀, syntypes ♂ ♀), by original designation.

Diversity and distribution. This genus includes six species, two from the Afrotropical Region and the other four from the Oriental Region ( Brothers 2015; Zhou et al. 2017). Brothers (2015) recognized an additional five undescribed species.

Remarks. An identification key to the Oriental species was provided by Zhou et al. (2017).