Odontophotopsis inconspicua (Blake)

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 : 10

Odontophotopsis inconspicua (Blake)

Photopsis inconspicuus Blake, 1886 . Amer. Ent. Soc., Trans. 13: 272. Male. Holotype data: California (ANSP). Mutilla infelix Dalla Torre, 1897 . Cat. Hym. 50. New name for Photopsis inconspicuous Blake not Mutilla inconspicuus Smith.

Diagnosis of male. This species is recognized by the following combination of characters: the mandible is excised ventrally forming a slight tooth that is dilated towards the vertical apex ( Fig. 9 ), the mesosternum only has one pair of large distinct spines that are flattened to slightly concave on the posterior side, the metasternum is tridentate, and the pygidium is granulate and is defined laterally by carinae. The genitalia are illustrated by Pitts et al. (2009) in Fig. 12 .

Diagnosis of female. The female of this species is diagnosed in Pitts et al. (2009).

Material examined. California, Riverside Co., Deep Canyon: 10 males, 2. May.1963, 5 males, 3. May.1963, 10 males, 16. May.1963, 1 male, 18. May.1964, 1 male, 22–23. May.2007, 3 males, 23– 24. May.2007, 1 male, 24. May.1964, 2 males, 30.May.1963.

Distribution. The Sonoran desert of southern California and southwestern Arizona and the Mojave Desert being found as far north as southern Nevada.

Remarks. Pitts et al. (2009) associated the female with this species based on morphological, distributional data, and specimens collected by W.E. Ferguson (1967). This species is widespread throughout the most of the Southwest and is normally abundant.

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.