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Extracted from Timberlake's Perdita Revision Part IV 1960.
The female of tridentata is similar to dolichocephala, and the two were confused by Swenk and Cockerell, but tridentata differs in having the face entirely dark and abdomen with transverse marks on the first three segments. The male has the subantennal plates green and sometimes two broad fnscous stripes on disk of clypeus. The type locality is Pleasant Lake, North Dakota.
Female.-Head and thorax dark green, the frons and mesonotum bronzy, the labrum, clypeue, and aupraclypeal area brownish fuscous. Mandibles testaceous or rufoteetaceoue, becoming red at apex and sometimes blackish at base. Face and thorax without light markings. Abdonien
dark brown, with two transverse yellowish-white marks on tergites 1 to 3, or 4, the marks on tergite 1often small or sometimes lacking, those on other segments forming a narrow, abbreviated, and well-interrupted basal band. Legs brownish fuscoue, the extreme apex of front femora
and a streak more or less developed on anterior side of front tibiae pale yellow. Antennae brown or fuscoua, the flagellum brownish yellow beneath. Tegulae pale teataceoua, the base brownish. Wings hyaline, the nervures testaceous brown, the aubcoeta and margins of stigma darker brown.
Structural characters, including sculpture, pubescence, and venation, closely approximating conditions in dolichocephala, but facial foveae less impressed and pubescence of mesonotum sparser, with the short erect hairs finer and less numerous, and the sides of the pygidial plate straight, the apex lULrTOWewri,th the points on each side of the median notch more acute. Length, about 5.5--6.5mm.j anterior wing, 3.6-4 mm.
Male.-Head and thorax dark green, somewhat bronzy on frons and mesonotum. Mandibles except reddish apical half, clypeua in part, narrowly triangular lateral marks ending acutely somewhat above level of antennae and a supraclypeal mark yellow. Labrum brown, or sometimes
yellow apically. Anterior margin of clypeus, usually broadened on each side of disk, and sometimes two broad stripes Ondisk brown or fuscous, the yellow then reduced to a narrow line on lateral margins of disk, and broad median stripe, or to the latter only. Small mark on
posterior corners of disk of pronctum and the tubercles yellow. Abdomen dark brown or fuscoua, with a moderately wide yellow band, not reaching the lateral margins, on tergites 1 to 5, the bands on tergitea 1,4, and 5 usually interrupted medially. Legs fuscous, the femora at apex, part of anterior side of front pair and sometimes of middle pair more or less fully, anterior side of front and middle tibiae and underside of hind tibiae yellow, the front tarsi
yellowish, the middle tarsi pale brown. Antennae yellow, a spot at apex of aeape, the pedicel and flagellum above brown. Tegulae and wings as in female.
Head usually a little longer than wide, the cheeks as wide as eyes. Mandibles tapering, acute, and nearly reaching far margin of proboecidial fossa. Facial foveae small, about thrice as long as wide. Sculpture and pubescence about as in the female, but the erect hair on anterior border of mesoseutum rather long. Apical lobe of tergite 7 about as long as wide and more or less narrowly rounded at apex. Subgenital plate somewhat broader than long, triangular but much
rounded at apex, the disk with minute setae on apical part. Caulis of aedeagus broadly oval, the dorsal lobes rounded at apex and discontinuous with dorsal margin of parameral lobes; the latter lobes appearing strap-shaped as seen from above but broad and but little narrowed to apex in lateral view; fused part of aagittae moderately wide and obtusely angulate at middle, and acuminate to the rather sharp apex in dorsal view and rather thickly fusiform as seen from the side. Length, 3.5-5 mm.j anterior wing, 2.9-3.5 mm
Material of triilentata examined as follows.-NoRTH DAKOTA: 1 male (paratype) Pleasant Lake, Benson Co., on Helianthus petiolaris, Aug. 9, 1913 (0. A. Stevens); 1 male, Sheldon Ransom 00., and 3 females, Aug. 28, 1920, on same flower (Stevens). IOWA: 5 males, Sargents
Bluff, Woodbury Oo., Aug. 22, 1930, 3 males, Aug. 20, 1931, and 2 males, sand dunes, Aug. 25,1933 (C. N. Ainslie). NEBRASKA: 1 female (parnrype of dolicllOcephaZa), 2 males, Niobrara,Knox Oo., on Helianth'U8, Aug. 13, 1902 cW. D. Pierce) j 1 female, Neligh, Antelope Co., on Helianthus, Aug. 7, 1901 (M. Cary) j 1 female, Valenti.ne, Cherry Co., Sept. 10, 1951 (E. Gilbert); 1 male, 7 miles north of Grant, Perkins Oo., on H. petiolaris, Aug. 25, 1954 (E. W.
Hamilton). KANSAS:2 females, 5 males, Clay Oo., Aug. 1901 (J. C. Bridwell) j 30 females, 28 males, Hutchinson, Reno Oo., on 11. petiolaris, Sept. 4, 1949 (Michener and Beamer); 5 females, 67 males,S miles southeast of Hutchinson, on same flower, Sept. 2, 1951 (Michener
and La. Berge); 1 male, 8 miles north of Elkhart, Morton Oo., on same flower, Sept. 4, 1051 (Michener and La Berge); 1 male, 4 miles southeast of Hugoton, Stevens Oo., on same flower, Sept. 4, 1951 (Michener and La Berge) j and 1 male, Kinsley, Edwards Co., on ~plopappU8 (Prwnopsis), Sept. 2, 1951 (Michener and La Berge).
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