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Extracted from: TImberlake P. H., (1958). A Revisional Study of The Bees of the Genus Perdita F. Smith, with Special Reference to the Fauna of the Pacific Coast (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) Part III. University of Caifornia Press Berkeley and Los Angeles 1958, Volume 14, No. 5, pp. 303-410, plates 4-15. This species found visiting Chysothamnus albidus in saline playas near Shoshone, California, is allied to adjuncta, but the black and white markings of the female are very distinctive. The light parts of the male are considerably more tinged with yellow than in the female, with the apical part of the abdomen becoming a pale orange yellow. Female.—Thorax dark blue-green, the propodeum and head blue; supraclypeal area, clypeus, and labrum black, the subantennal plates black slightly tinged with blue. Mandibles except reddish tips, transverse streak on upper margin of lateral extensions of clypeus, and narrowly triangular lateral marks intruding a little between foveae and eyes white; in one paratype two small white supraclypeal spots also present. Collar and interrupted band on hind margin of disk of pronotum, narrowly confluent with large mark on tubercles, white. Abdomen white, becoming pale testaceous on venter, the tergum with five or six black bands, including one at base of tergite 1; dark band on apex of tergite 5 sometimes absent, but often complete, although erose on its anterior margin and enclosing a light band; white band on tergite 1 narrow, narrowly interrupted medially and sometimes on each side, the outer end of the inner half on each side usually provided with a curved anterior spur, or the inner halves moderately expanded and enclosing a black spot; apical segment of abdomen rufotestaceous. Legs black, the apex of front and middle femora, the front and middle tibiae, except a blotch on their underside, and their tarsi yellowish white; hind trochanters also white, and extreme apex of hind femora and base of hind tibiae somewhat whitish. Antennae fuscous above except at base of scape, the scape otherwise white and the flagellum yellowish white beneath. Tegulae hyaline, the base white. Wings whitish hyaline, the nervures pale testaceous, the apical half of subcosta pale ferruginous. Head about as broad as long. Mandibles stout, strongly curved on outer margin, dilated andnearly straight on inner margin, widest at the middle, and tapering gradually to the acute apex. Facial foveae well impressed, about twice as wide as interval between them and eyes, and reaching from level of -middle of antennal sockets about three fourths of distance to level of anterior ocellus. Marginal cell with part beyond stigma generally distinctly longer than the part beneath. Pygidial plate broad, the sides converging nearly straight to the rather narrow and notched apex. Prons smoothly tessellate and rather shining, the face below antennae and the mesonotum polished. Puncturation fine, sparse on face below antennae, close adjacent to the foveae and moderately close on mesonotum. Pubescence white, rather dense on cheeks, and moderately thin, erect, and finely mosBlike on mesonotum. Length, 5-5.5 mm.; anterior wing, 3.4-3.8 mm. Male.—Head and thorax dark blue-green. Narrow anterior end of cheeks and slender post-orbital line, orbital line, mandibles except red tips, labrum, and almost entire face below level of antennae pale yellow or yellowish white; upper margin of lateral marks extending in a straight line from outer and lower margin of antennal socket to margin of eye near fovea; lower margin of subantennal plates usually marked with a short oblique black streak. Anterior margin of pronotum, interrupted band on hind margin of disk, narrowly confluent on each side with large mark on tubercles, yellow. Abdomen yellow, the apical half tinged with orange; base of tergite 1 and bands at junction of tergites 1-2 to 3-4 black; a brownish band on base of tergite 5 more or less evanescent; yellow band on tergite 1 rather narrow, even, and interrupted. Legs yellow, a blotch, streak, or small spot on posterior side of front and middle femora, a blotch or streak on front and posterior side of hind femora near apex, and outer side of hind tibiae except at base, fuscous. Scape pale yellow, the flagellum orange-yellow beneath, the pedicel and flagellum brownish fuscous above. Tegulae and wings as in female, except subcosta, margins of stigma, and nervures of marginal cell brownish. Head rotund, barely broader than long. Mandibles rather stout and hardly reaching far margin of the proboscidial fossa. Foveae obscure, a little longer than wide. Frons finely tessellate, moderately shining, and with fine moderately close punctures. Mesonotum polished, with fine, rather remote punctures. Pubescence about as in female, but hair of mesonotum a little longer and finer. Subgenital plate about four times longer than wide and narrowed from the base and apex toward the middle. Aedeagus about normal for the sonalis group except that the medio-dorsal lobes of caulis are longer than usual and narrowed toward apex; fringe on lower half of apical margin of parameral lobes composed of coarse spinelike bristles and that on upper half very fine and inconspicuous; fused body of sagittae moderately narrow, acute at apex, and not at all angulated on the sides before the apex. Length, 4.5-5 mm.; anterior wing, 3.3-3.6 mm. Seventeen females, 26 males (holotype female, allotype, and paratypes), collected at 2.9, 3.0, 3.2, and 3.6 miles south of Shoshone, Inyo Co., California, in an alkaline playa, on the whitish-flowered Chrysothamnus albidus,1 Oct. 9 and 18,1956 (E. C. Dickson). Types in collection of the Citrus Experiment Station, Eiverside. Perdita fraterna Timberlake (Figs. 394, 395, 481) Perdita fraterna Timberlake, 1929, Jour. New York Ent. Soc, 39: 123, J. P. fraterna was described from Colorado, without a more exact locality, but with the nos. 1414 and 1742. The specimens were possibly from the Baker collection, and the type is now in the collection of the Illinois State Natural History Survey. This species remains little known, but some specimens collected near Camp Verde, Arizona, agree closely in the male sex and afford the opportunity to describe the female. Female.—Dark blue-green, the mesonotum somewhat yellowish green; light parts very pale yellow or creamy white, with the legs more yellowish than other parts. Mandibles except red tips, labrum, clypeus except usual dots, lateral marks, and an imperfect supraclypeal mark white;lateral marks much higher than wide and intruding between lower end of f oveae and margin of eyes; supraclypeal mark more than twice as broad as high, or reduced to two dots. Pronotum dark, with the collar, posterior margin of disk, and the tubercles wnite. Abdomen white, with five rather broad blackish bands, the light band on tergite 1 considerably expanded on each side of the median line and interrupted only by the dark median crease; dark bands on following segments, especially those on tergites 3 and 4 with a broad but slight, anterior bulge on each side. Legs pale canary yellow, the front coxae blackish, a broad blotch on front femora behind, broad line on posterior side of middle tibiae, and the hind tibiae and tarsi brownish fuscous. Scape except a spot above at apex and underside of pedicel pale yellow, the antennae otherwise dark brown above and pale brown beneath. Tegulae whitish at base and broadly hyaline on outer margin. Wings hyaline, the nervures pale yellowish testaceous with a slight brownish tinge. Head considerably broader than long. Mandibles rather stout, subdilated within and abruptly narrowed before the apex without forming a distinct inner tooth. Facial foveae well impressed, broader than the interval between them and the eyes, and extending from level of middle of antennal sockets somewhat more than halfway to level of anterior ocellus. Pygidial plate about as long as broad at base, the sides slightly arcuately converging to the moderately narrow, notched apex. Prons smoothly tessellate, rather shining, and with moderately close fine punctures on each side below and more scattered punctures in front of the ocelli. Mesoscutum polished, with moderately remote fine punctures. Pubescence whitish, about normal for the group, with hair of mesonotum rather short and sparse and the prescutellar band of hair little developed. Length, 5 mm.; anterior wing, 3.2 mm Material examined includes only 2 males, 2 females, collected 5.2 miles southeast of Camp Verde, Yavapai Co., Arizona, on Gutierresia microcephala, Sept. 18, 1953 (Timberlake).
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