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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 California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles 1958, Volume 14, No. 5, pp. 303-410, plates 4-15. P. punctifrons is distinguished from other members of the zonalis group, except nigrocincta, by having the frons unusually strongly punctured. It was collected originally by C. F. Baker at Claremont, and more recently it has been found near Rialto, California, visiting flowers of Lessingia. Female.—Head and thorax dark yellowish green. Mandibles except reddish tips, labrum, clypeus, supraclypeal and lateral marks pale yellow. Lateral marks much higher than wide, abruptly narrowed at the foveae, and intruding between foveae and margin of eyes for nearly half the length of foveae. Supraclypeal mark well developed, but transverse and notched medially above. Subantennal plates blackish. Pronotum yellow, with the flanks except tubercles nearly all green, and the green extending bandlike across the disk. Abdomen creamy white, with an even fuscous band at junction of tergites 1-2 to 4-5, and a fuscous spot on each sideof tergite 1 at summit of the basal declivity, with each spot often sending an oblique, less deeply pigmened or fragmentary streak toward the base. Legs, including coxae, pale yellow, with a streak or blotch on posterior side of front femora and middle tibiae, and the hind tibiae and tarsi brown or fuscous. Antennae fuscous above, the flagellum brownish yellow beneath, the pedicel beneath and the scape except a spot above at apex clear yellow. Tegulae subhyaline, with the base yellow. Wings faintly dusky hyaline, the nervures testaceous, the subcosta and margins of stigma pale brown. Head slightly broader than long, with disk of clypeus as high as wide and more narrowly rounded above than usual. Proboscis in repose projecting from the proboscidial fossa to the front coxae. Mandibles moderately slender and abruptly narrowed on inner margin close to apex. Facial foveae strongly impressed, separated by somewhat more than half their width from margin of eyes and extending from level of middle of antennal sockets about two thirds of distance to level of anterior ocellus. Pygidial plate somewhat broader than long, strongly arcuate on the sides and strongly notched at apex. Frons smoothly tessellate, shining, and with close, strong, moderately fine punctures, which become sparse on each side above foveae and in ocellar region. Mesonotum polished, with fine, moderately sparse punctures. Pubescence whitish, short, and erect on mesonotum, and longer but not much denser on other parts of thorax and the head. Length, 4.5-6 mm.; anterior wing, 3.2-3.8 mm. Male.—Head and thorax more bluish green than in the female. Mandibles except red tips, labrum, face below level of antennae, anterior end of cheeks, and postorbital line nearly to middle of eyes canary yellow; clypeus with the usual pair of dark dots and the subantennal plates with a black dot or spot at lower end; lateral marks obliquely narrowed from level of antennal sockets to level of foveae. Pronotum as in females. Abdomen yellow, with six fuscous bands, including one at base of tergite 1; a seventh band faintly developed at junction of tergites 6-7; the yellow band on tergite 1 narrow and narrowly interrupted medially, and those on tergites 2 to 4 curved backward at outer ends. "Venter of abdomen almost uniformly yellow. Legs yellow witfh a blotch on posterior side of front and middle femora, spot at apex of hind femora, and sometimes a short streak on anterior side, the hind tibiae except beneath and the hind tarsi fuBcous. Antennae brownish fuscous above and pale brownish yellow beneath, with the scape almost entirely clear yellow. Tegulae as in female, the wings more dusky with darker nervures. Head somewhat broader than long. Mandibles moderately slender and acute, and reaching the far margin of proboscidial fossa. Facial foveae faint and about three times longer than wide. Sculpture and pubescence similar to that of female. Subgenital plate about three times longer than wide, slightly narrowing from base, then abruptly expanding into a hexagonal head; the basal articulating part much broader than the apical plate. Parameral lobes of caulis longer than usual in the gonalis group, with the dorsal part partly concealing the ventral half in dorsal view; fused part of sagittae unusually short and broad, but tapering from the middle to the subacute apex. Length, about 4.5 mm.; anterior wing, 3 mm. Two females (holotype and paratype), Claremont, Los Angeles County, California (C. F. Baker); 4 females, 3 males (allotype and paratypes) low hilly area southwest of Bialto, San Bernardino County, on Lessingia germanorum var. glandulifera, Sept. 22, 1955, and 1 female, Aug. 3,1956 (J.C.Hall). Holotype in the TJ. S. National Museum (No. 43,416); allotype and paratypes in collection of the Citrus Experiment Station and paratypes in collection of the University of California at Davis
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