Odontophotopsis quadrispinosa Schuster

Pitts, James P., Wilson, Joseph S., Williams, Kevin A. & Boehme, Nicole F., 2010, Nocturnal velvet ant males (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Deep Canyon, California including four new species and a fifth new species from Owens Lake Valley, California, Zootaxa 2553, pp. 1-34 : 11

Odontophotopsis quadrispinosa Schuster

Odontophotopsis quadrispinosa Schuster, 1958 . Ent. Amer. 37: 51. Male. Neotype data: Palm Springs, California, 1 May 1933, at light, Theo. Zschokke (UMSP).

Diagnosis of male. The male of this species can be recognized by having the marginal cell much shorter than the stigma as measured along the costal vein and two pair of mesosternal processes forming a square, with the anterior pair much more obvious than the posterior pair. Also, the mandibles are deeply emarginate along the ventral margin, but the mandible narrow s towards the vertical apex ( Fig. 12 ). The genitalia are illustrated by Pitts et al. (2009) in Fig. 18 .

Female. Unknown, but the likely female was described in Pitts et al. (2009).

Material examined. California, Riverside Co.: 12 males, 2. May.1963, 2 males, 16. May.1963, 3 males, 30. May.1963, 1 male, 25.Sep.1969.

Distribution. Sonoran and Mojave deserts.

Remarks. This species is rare throughout its range and is not endemic to Deep Canyon. The mesosternal processes are weak and sometimes difficult to observe. This species was placed by Schuster (1958) into a monotypic species-group. It shares several morphological characteristics, but most especially similarities in the genitalia, with Sphaeropthalma difficilis , S. django , Photomorphus californicus and Odontophotopsis grata , which is a grouping suggested by Pitts et al. (2010).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 12. Head, anterior view. 1. Acanthophotopsis falciformis; 2. Acrophotopsis campylognatha; 3. Odontophotopsis acmaea; 4. O. armata; 5. O. aufidia; 6. O. bellona; 7. O. biramosa; 8. O. clypeata; 9. O. inconspicua; 10. O. mamata; 11. O. melicausa; and 12. O. quadrispinosa.

FIGURES 13 – 24. Head, anterior view; except ventral view 17. 13. Odontophotopsis serca; 14. O. setifera; 15. Sphaeropthalma. amphion; 16. S. angulifera; 17. S. angulifera; 18. S. arota; 19. S. becki; 20. S. blakeii; 21. S. difficilis; 22. S. ferruginea; 23. S. ignacio; and 24. S. macswaini.