Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141.
FEMALE—Length 5—5.5 mm.; head and thorax green, abdomen bright yellowish-testaceous, maculae pale yellow; face somewhat longer than distance between eyes above; eyes very slightly convergent below; cheeks somewhat narrower than eyes; vertex narrow, lateral ocelli separated from its hind margin by about their own diameter; facial foveae shallow and rather obscure, elongate, located very close to margin of eye; mandibles pale yellow, becoming ferruginous at tip; labrum yellow, with a median dark blotch; clypeus entirely yellow except for a pair of small dark spots; facial maculae large and conspicuous, terminating narrowly on eye margin slightly above level of antennae; apical half of supraclypeal area yellow; scape yellow anteriorly, flagellum dull testaceous beneath, becoming somewhat more brownish above; face below antennae smooth and somewhat shining, punctures scattered, very fine and obscure, area above antennae dull and tessellate, punctures very minute and obscure; cheeks somewhat shining, with extremely minute but rather close punctures, especially below; pubescence of head and thorax short, thin, entirely whitish; pronotum with a pair of conspicuous lateral maculae, and tubercles yellow, thorax otherwise entirely green; scutum and scutellum rather dull, very finely tessellate, punctures minute, rather sparse, but visible with sufficient magnification; pleura somewhat more shining, punctures about as on scutum; propodeum more shining, entirely impunctate; tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings hyaline, veins and stigma pale testaceous to yellowish, stigma margined with darker brown; all femora largely dark posteriorly, yellow anteriorly and apically, trochanters and in part the coxae also, yellow, front and mid tibiae yellow anteriorly, piceous posteriorly, hind tibiae entirely piceous, front tarsi yellow, mid and hind tarsi dark; abdomen basally yellowish, becoming somewhat reddish-testaceous on the more apical segments, rims of terga rather narrowly depressed, these yellowish-hyaline, punctures evident only on the more apical segments.
MALE—Length 4 mm.; head and thorax green, abdomen yellowish-testaceous in large part, thoracic maculae yellow, facial maculae more ivory; length of face equal to distance between eyes above; eyes subparallel; cheeks slightly narrower than eyes; vertex rather narrow, lateral ocelli separated from its hind margin by somewhat more than their own diameter; foveae very small and short but quite conspicuous; mandibles ivory, becoming pale ferruginous at tip; labrum, clypeus, sub antennal areas, supraclypeal area and lateral face marks ivory, resulting in most of the face below antennae being of that color; clypeus rather fiat, located high on face, its lower margin about on the suborbital line; scape bright yellow, flagellum pale testaceous beneath, becoming somewhat more brownish ferruginous above; face below antennae smooth, punctures scattered and sparse, barely visible, area above antennae densely tessellate, punctures somewhat closer, exceedingly shallow and obscure, those on the more shining cheeks hardly visible; pubescence of head and thorax short, very thin, entirely whitish; pronotum with small, lateral, yellow maculae on posterior margin, and tubercles yellow, thorax otherwise green; scutum and scutellum finely tessellate and somewhat shining, punctures exceedingly minute and obscure, hardly visible; pleura slightly more shining, but punctures very obscure; propodeum somewhat shining but impunctate; tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings subhyaline, veins and stigma pale testaceous, stigma margined with darker brown; legs largely yellow, but femora with considerable dark areas posteriorly and front and mid tibiae somewhat less so, the hind tibiae yellow anteriorly, dark posteriorly, front and mid tarsi entirely yellow, hind torsi dark; abdominal terga yellowish-testaceous, apical rims narrowly depressed and somewhat more reddish in color, punctures evident only on the more apical segments; sternum 7 very deeply and rather narrowly emarginate apically, the two apical angles much produced and spine-like; apical portion of sternum 8 subtriangular, tip acute, the narrower basal part connected to the apical part by a rather narrow pedicel; gonocoxites somewhat bulbous, acute apically, gonostyli somewhat compressed, rounded apically, the slender penis valves of about equal length, these slightly ungulate toward base laterally, volsellae short, distinctly separated into a compressed cuspis and a more slender and elongate digitus.
DISTRIBUTION—Coastal plain of North Carolina; September and October.
FLOWER RECORD—Polygonella polygama. This is a handsome little bee, unique among the eastern Perclitas in the coloration of the abdomen.
|
