The velvet ant subfamily Sphaeropthalminae Ashmead, 1903 (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) is critically reviewed and reclassified. The old taxonomic concept of the subfamily is expanded into a clade comprising six subfamilies: Atilluminae, new subfamily, Chaetotillinae, new subfamily, Ephutinae Ashmead, 1903, revised status, Euspinoliinae Brothers and Lelej, 2017, new status, Patquiatillinae, new subfamily, and Sphaeropthalminae Ashmead, 1903. This clade is informally named the Sphaeropthalmiformes subfamily-group. Two tribes are recognized within Ephutinae: Ephutini Ashmead, 1903 and Onoretillini, new tribe. Three tribes are provisionally recognized within Sphaeropthalminae sensu stricto: Dasymutillini Brothers and Lelej, 2017, Pseudomethocini Brothers, 1975, and Sphaeropthalmini Ashmead, 1903. A syntype male of Ephuta argentinensis André, 1907, labeled "lectotype" by Clarence Mickel in 1931, is designated herein as lectotype.
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