Perdita (Procockerellia) stephanomeriae Timberlake

Portman, Zachary M. & Griswold, Terry, 2017, Review of PerditasubgenusProcockerellia Timberlake (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae) and the first Perdita gynandromorph, ZooKeys 712, pp. 87-111 : 101

Perdita (Procockerellia) stephanomeriae Timberlake Figures 2 G–I, 3C, F, 4 E–F, 5C, F, I, 6C, F, I, 8B

Perdita (Procockerellia) stephanomeriae Timberlake, 1954: 404, ♀; Timberlake 1960: 132, ♂. Holotype female: USA, California, San Diego Co., 12 miles south of Ocotillo, 12 November 1939, P.H. Timberlake, at flowers of Stephanomeria pauciflora [CAS type no. 14720]. Examined.

Perdita (Allomacrotera) stephanomeriae ; Timberlake 1960: 131 (change of subgenus).

Perdita (Hexaperdita) glamis Timberlake, 1980: 16, ♂. Holotype male: USA: California: Imperial Co., Glamis, 13 June 1965, G.E. Wallace [CAS type no. 14544]. Examined. Syn. n.

Measurements.

Female (n=10): head width 1.5 mm (1.4-1.6 mm), body length 5.6 mm (5.2-6.3 mm). Male (n=4): head width 1.5 mm (1.4-1.6 mm), body length 4.9 mm (4.6-5.2 mm).

Diagnosis.

Both sexes have the maxillary palpi 3-jointed (whereas the other two species of Prockerellia have 5-jointed maxillary palpi) and the frons and vertex are barely tessellate and strongly shining (e.g. Fig. 6C). The transverse dorso-lateral carina on the pronotal collar found in both sexes is distinctive; other Procockerellia have a rounded nub laterally. The female has the face marked with white laterally on the clypeus and a triangular mark on the lateral area (Fig. 5C), similar to lighter females of P. albonotata . The female can be further recognized by the broad median expansion of the mandibles (Fig. 5F) and narrowly interrupted metasomal bands that don’t curve to the apical margin laterally (Fig. 5I). The male is unique in having a small point apically on the pygidial plate (Fig. 6I). It can be further distinguished by the bidentate tarsal claws and the lack of light bands on the metasoma (Fig. 6F).

Distribution.

Nevada and California: Mojave and Sonoran Deserts (Fig. 8B).

Phenology.

Floral records.

Asteraceae : Stephanomeria sp. 1 ♂ 6 ♀.

Additional material examined.

Total specimens: 4 ♂ 12 ♀. USA: CALIFORNIA: San Bernardino County: Vidal, 1 mi S (34.1062 -114.50738): 1 ♂ 6 ♀, 6 Oct 1988, T.L. Griswold, Stephanomeria sp. NEVADA: Clark County: 2.2 mi SSW Mormon Well (36.6165 -115.1111): 1 ♀, 14 Jun 2004, E. Ahlstrom, D. Skandilis; Las Vegas, NE (36.2798 -115.0355): 1 ♂, 7 Oct 1998, T.L. Griswold; Pinto Ridge (36.2422 -114.5493): 2 ♂ 5 ♀, 9 Oct 1998, T.L. Griswold.

Remarks.

As a result of this study, P. stephanomeriae is hereby returned to its original subgeneric assignment, Procockerellia . This species appears rare, especially compared to P. albonotata and P. moabensis , which can be common and locally abundant. Extensive all season sampling conducted in 1998, 2004, 2005 in Clark County, Nevada in the eastern Mojave Desert yielded large numbers of Procockerellia . It is therefore interesting that while P. albonotata was widely distributed and abundant, P. stephanomeriae was rarely detected.

The holotype of P. glamis was examined and found to clearly match P. stephanomeriae . The mouthparts of the holotype of P. glamis are not exposed, which likely led Timberlake (1980) to incorrectly place and describe the species in subgenus Hexaperdita since he could not see the reduced number of palpi.