Odontophotopsis villosa Mickel

Pitts, James P., 2007, Revision of Odontophotopsis Viereck (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), Part 1, with a description of a new Genus Laminatilla, Zootaxa 1619, pp. 1-43 : 30

Odontophotopsis villosa Mickel

( Figs. 57, 58 , 81 )

Odontophotopsis (Odontophotopsis) villosa Mickel , in Mickel and Clausen 1983. Amer. Ent. Soc., Ann. 76: 550. male. Holotype: California, Riverside Co., Palm Springs, T. Zschokke (UMSP).

Diagnosis. For this species, the mandible is unique for Odontophotopsis in having the ventral margin almost entire ventrally (being only weakly excised), while the dorsal carina is obsolete on the distal third, and the apex is bidentate. In rare instances, a weak median tooth can be present such that the mandibles are tridentate ( Figs. 57, 58 ). Also, the head is rounded posteriorly ( Fig. 57 ); the clypeus is very weakly concave with a weak tubercle at the median proximal margin ( Fig. 57 ); the anterolateral angle of the clypeus is slightly tuberculate ( Fig. 57 ); the ocellar area is concolorous with the head; the legs and antennae usually are lighter in color than the body ( Fig. 81 ); the mesosternal processes are distinct, but are not high and prominent, being separated by distance equal to diameter of ocellus; S2 has a conspicuous, strongly elevated, longitudinal carina on median proximal fifth; the pygidium is granulate; the parameres are not angulate medially and are only slightly bent inward two-thirds from the base; the cuspis is narrowed medially, appearing club-like; and the apex of the cuspis has stout setae, but medially it has thinner setae, and the inner margin has an elongate area of dense short setae. Genitalia were illustrated in Mickel and Clausen (1983).

Distribution. The western Sonoran Desert of Southern California.

Material examined. USA, California, Imperial Co., Glamis , 5 mi SW, 12 males, 23.Jul.2005, K.A. Williams ( EMUS); Algodones Dunes, S. Ruthven, 1 male, 24.Apr.2004, D. Yanega ( UCRC); Glamis, 3 mi N, 2 males, 11–12.Apr.1973, 3 males, 10.Sep.1974, 20 males, 15–16.Sep.1972, M.S. Wasbauer ( CDFA); Glamis, 7 mi SE, 3 males, 25.Mar–8.Apr.1979, M.S. Wasbauer ( CDFA); Riverside Co., Blythe, 7 mi NE, Mayflower Park, 1 male, 23.Jun.2004, K.A. Williams ( EMUS).

Remarks. Mickel and Clausen (1983) suggested that O. villosa be placed into the O. unicornis speciesgroup due to the seeming similarity in mandibular morphology compared to O. unicornis and O. erebus ( Fig. 51 ), especially due to the bidentate condition of the mandible. Odontophotopsis villosa differs from the other two species in having the mandible almost entire ventrally (only weakly excised at certain angles), the dorsal carina of the mandible obsolete distally, the ventral carina of the mandible only weakly produces, the clypeus only weakly tuberculate posteromedially, the length of the costal margin is equal to length of stigma, and S2 with a prominent median, elevated carina on the proximal fifth. Furthermore, the apex of the mandible is not always bidentate as for the members of the O. unicornis species-group. The genitalia of O. villosa also differ from the latter two species, and are more similar to O. melicausa (Blake) . The parameres are not bent to the degree seen in O. unicornis and O. erebus , and the cuspis is club-like with an elongate area on the internal surface with dense erect setae. As such, this species is unlikely to be closely related to the O. unicornis speciesgroup, and is placed into a species-group of its own.

Figures

FIGURES 57 – 68. Odontophotopsis villosa: Fig. 57. head, frontal view; Fig. 58. mandible. Mutillidae, various genera: Fig. 59. metasoma with one felt line, lateral view; Fig. 60. metasoma with two felt line, lateral view; Fig. 61. rounded head; Fig. 62. quadrate head. Fig. 63. Laminatilla lamellifera: mesosternum, lateral view. Odontophotopsis venusta, Fig. 64. head, frontal view. Odontophotopsis conifera: Fig. 65. head, dorsal view. Odontophotopsis tapajos: Fig. 66. mandible. Odontophotopsis quadrispinosa: Fig. 67. mandible. Odontophotopsis conifera: Fig. 68. mandible.

FIGURES 80 – 84. Odontophotopsis cockerelli: Fig. 80. habitus. Odontophotopsis villosa: Fig. 81. habitus. Sphaeropthalma macswaini: Fig. 82. head. Photomorphus piceogaster: Fig. 83. head.

FIGURES 48 – 56. Odontophotopsis unicornis: Fig. 48. head, frontal view; Fig. 50. clypeal apex, lateral view; Fig. 51. mandible; Fig. 54. genitalia, lateral view; Fig. 55. penal valve; Fig. 56. genitalia, ventral view. Odontophotopsis erebus: Fig. 49. head, lateral view; Fig. 52. genitalia, lateral view; Fig. 53. penal valve.