Species account taken from: "A Revision of the Genus Ashmeadiella (Hymen., Megachilidae) Author(s): Charles D. Michener Source: American Midland Naturalist,Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jul., 1939), pp. 1-84"
Listed originally under a separate species.
Ashmeadiella (Ashmeadiella) curriei curriei Titus Ashmeadiella curriei Titus, 1904, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., 6:100, 9 ; Michener, 1936, Am. Mus. Nov., 875:7, R. Heriades prosopidis Cockerell, 1897, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (6)20:140, ,, nec 9. Ashmeadiella basalis nigra Michener, 1936, Am. Mus. Nov., 875:7, 9 8.
This is a small black species. It is easily recognized in the female by the finely punctate and entirely dull anterior margin of the clypeus. Al- though exhibited also by femorata, the distinctly convex antero-lateral mar- gins of the clypeus are quite distinctive. The tegulae are punctate in nearly all specimens of curriei, while in most of the other species the central and posterior parts of the tegulae are impunctate or nearly so.
Female: Inner margins of eyes converging toward clypeus, except for lower parts which diverge; facial line somewhat shorter than transfacial; flagellum brown beneath; truncation of clypeus slightly concave, shorter than distance from end of truncation to eye margin; ends of truncation not strongly marked; margin of clypeus between ends of truncation and lateral anigles of clypeus convex; basal two-thirds of clypeus rather coarsely punctate, but apical part finely and closely punctate, margin not smooth or impunctate; mandibles with dorsal carina of outer side ending slightly nearer anterior than posterior basal angle of mandible; distance from first to third mandibular tooth much less than width of eye, about equal to length of last two antennal segments; cheeks a little more than half as wide as eyes, seen from side; anterior ocellus nearly twice as far from antennal sockets as from posterior edge of vertex; distance between posterior ocelli equal to or only slightly greater than distance to eye, and distinctly greater than distance to posterior edge of vertex; vertex and frons rather coarsely punctate; supraclypeal area more finely so. Scutum more finely punctate than vertex, with narrow margin of whitish pubescence, no pair of pubescent spots anteriorly; tegulae black or nearly so, with punctures, especially near outer margin; mesepisterna as coarsely or nearly as coarsely punctate as vertex; wings faintly dusky; inner margin of inner hind tibial spurs finely serrate with about fifteen small teeth, outer margin with eleven larger teeth; inner margin of outer hind tibial spurs practically toothless, outer margin with six, moderate sized, oblique teeth. Abdominal tergites more finely punctate than scutum; tergites one to four with narrow, apical bands of white pubescence; fifth tergite with a less conspicuous apical pubescent band, or without such a band; scopa white. Length 5 to 6? mm.
MAle: Similar to female except as indicated below: upper two-thirds of inner margins of eyes slightly converging toward clypeus; flagellum dusky or brown beneath; anterior margin of clypeus with inconspicuous, shallow emar-gination about half as broad as basal width of clypeus; anterior part of clypeus with narrow, finely and closely punctate band just basad to the shiny margin; cheeks narrower than eyes seen from side; vertex coarsely and not closely punctate. Scutum more finely punctate than vertex; mesepisterna punctured like scutum; inner margin of inner hind tibial spurs with about thirteen small teeth, outer margin with about four rather large, oblique teeth; median teeth of sixth tergite variable, slightly longer than broad, subparallel sided, emar- gination between them variable in shape. Length 4 to 5 mm. This widely distributed but rather rare species is quite variable, and its relationship to the form known as echinocerei is not entirely evident. The latter is perhaps a desert subspecies of curriei, but the occurrence of curriei in the desert may indicate that it is a synonym instead of a subspecies. Just which specimens are to be placed in echinocerei and which in curriei cannot be decided until more specimens of true echinocerei come to hand. Typical curriei occurs from British Columbia to California and Colorado. California records are from the northern part of the state and from the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Several specimens from desert regions recorded below should possibly be discussed under echinocerei.
WASHINGTON: White Rock Springs, Stevens Pass, Cascade Mountains, July 13, 1930 (E. C. Van Dyke). OREGON: Mount Hood, 3000 to 6000 feet, August 6, 1925 (C. L. Fox). CALIFORNIA: Mount Lassen, 6700 feet, July 21 and 22, 1937 (F. X. Williams); Big Flat, Trinity County, June 20, 1934 (G. E. Bohart); Mammoth, Mono County, July 21, 1936 (G. E. & R. M. Bohart); Bishop Creek, Inyo County, 8000 feet, on Nama rothrockii, June 22, 1937 (C. D. Michener). UTAH: Zion Canyon, June 19, 1933 (O. H. Swezey). COLORADO: Florissant, June 19 (T. D. A. Cockerell); Boulder, May 26, 1908 (S. A. Rohwer). A specimen from Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO, and one from Mazourka Canyon, Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, California, May 25, 1937 (C. D. Michener) are rather dense- ly pubescent for typical curriei. A female specimen from Lone Pine Canyon, Inyo County, California, 8000 feet elevation, on Crpptantha (C. D. Michener) is hardly 5 mm. long. A male from the same locality is approximately the same size. A female from Dos Palmos, Riverside County, California, March 28, 1934, appears to have been wet, and may have been more densely pubescent than is now apparent. It exhibits an unusually strong contrast in punctation between the vertex and the scutum. A large female, 6 mm. long, from San Bernardo, SONORA, Mexico, July 10, 1935, is in poor condition, practically all the pubescence being worn off. It is rather coarsely punctate, and shows very little contrast in punctation between the vertex and the scutum. A male from the same locality, June 29, 1935, is not peculiarly punctured. Type: Female; from Kaslo, British Columbia, in United States National Museum.
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