Odontophotopsis biramosa Schuster

Pitts, James P., Wilson, Joseph S., Williams, Kevin A. & Boehme, Nicole F., 2009, Velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of the Algodones sand dunes of California, USA, Zootaxa 2131, pp. 1-53 : 23

Odontophotopsis biramosa Schuster

Odontophotopsis (Odontophotopsis) biramosa Schuster, 1952 . Brooklyn Ent. Soc., 47: 43–47. Male. Holotype data: California, Imperial Co., Holtville , 2 Jul 1929, P.W. Owens (NMNH).

Odontophotopsis (Odontophotopsis) biramosa Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 37: 56. Male.

Diagnosis of male. This species is recognized by having a tridentate mandible with an extremely large dorsal tooth that is separated from the lower portion of the mandibular apex by a deep, wide sinus, which makes the mandibular apices appear biramose ( Fig. 29 ), and by the clypeus, which has a horseshoe-shaped tubercle posteromedially that overhangs the clypeus as a slight hood-like or nasutiform process. Also, this species has a single mesosternal process on each side of the midline, and its cuspis is approximately half the free length of the paramere. The genitalia are illustrated in Fig. 10 .

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. California, Imperial Co., Algodones Dunes : Glamis, 2 mi. NE, on Ted Kipf Road, 301’, 33°00.969’N 115°06.033’W, 2 males, 29–30.Jul.2007, K.A. Williams and J.S. Wilson ( EMUS); Wash Rd., 7 km SE Hwy. 78, 1 male, 9–10.Jun.2008, R.B. Kimsey and T.J. Zavortink ( UCDC).

Distribution. California and southwestern Arizona northward into southern Nevada.

Remarks. This species is rare, but not endemic to the Algodones Sand Dunes. A more thorough discussion of this species can be found in Pitts (2007).

Figures

FIGURES 23 – 30. 23 – 26 Genitalia, dorsal view left, ventral right. 23. Sphaeropthalma blakeii; 24. S. ecarinata; 25. S. militaris; 26. S. triangularis; 27. Dorsal view of Odontophotopsis villosa, female; 28. Anterior view of head of O. villosa, female; 29. Anterior view of head of O. biramosa, male; and 28. Anterior view of head of O. sonora, male.

FIGURES 7 – 22. Dorsal view of genitalia, except Figs. 15, 17, 19, and 21 lateral view of cuspis. 7. Odontophotopsis ambigua; 8. O. arcuata; 9. O. aufidia; 10. O. biramosa; 11. O. clypeata; 12. O. inconspicua; 13. O. melicausa; 14 and 15. O. obscura; 16 and 17. O. parva; 18 and 19. O. quadrispinosa; 20 and 21 O. sonora; and 22. O. villosa.