296 BULLETIN" U3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



There is considerable variation in size and color of pubescence. 

 The length of the para types varies from 8 to 13 mm., while the color 

 of the pubescence varies between scarlet and yellow. In most of the 

 paratypes the black pubescence of the second tergite covers only the 

 basal third of the tergite, but in two or three specimens the black 

 pubescence covers at least the basal two-thirds of the tergite. 



This species has been compared with the type of testaceiventrls and 

 is not that species. However, a specimen in the United States Na- 

 tional Museum designated as a cotype of testmceiventris is identical 

 with ahdita. 



135. DASYMUTILLA CANDIDA, new species 



Plate 5, fig. 39 



Male. — Dark mahogany red; front, vertex, thorax above and ab- 

 dominal segments from apex of segment two with very pale yellowish 

 pubescence; length, 9 mm. 



Head very dark mahogany red ; mandibles acuminate at the apex, 

 bidentate within at a point one-third their length from the apex; 

 clypeus feebly bidentate at the apical margin; first segment of flagel- 

 lum slightly shorter than the second; antennal scrobes not carinate 

 above; eyes and ocelli of normal size; front closely, confluently 

 punctate ; vertex and genae with shallow, indistinct punctures ; front 

 and vertex with sparse, erect, very pale yellowish pubescence ; relative 

 widths of head and thorax, 5.25-6. 



Thorax dark mahogany red ; pronotum, mesonotum, and scutellum 

 with large, more or less confluent punctures, those on the scutellum 

 larger and deeper than those of the pro- and mesonotum ; the pronotum, 

 mesonotum, scutellum, and metanotum clothed with long, erect, very 

 pale yellowish pubescense ; propleura indistinctly punctured, sparsely 

 clothed with dark pubescence; mesopleura with large shallow punc- 

 tures, the latter confluent in the medial area, sparsely clothed with 

 dark pubescence ; metapleura glabrous, impunctate except for a very 

 few scattered punctures ventrally, very sparsely clothed with dark 

 pubescence; propodeum broadly reticulate throughout, the reticula- 

 tions more shallow and less distinct on the sides than on the posterior 

 face and dorsum; tegulae glabrous, witli a few scattered punctures 

 and sparse pale pubescence along the basal and inner lateral margins. 



Abdomen very dark mahogany red, the second tergite paler than 

 the other sclerites ; first segment distinctly nodose ; first tergite with 

 large, coarse deep punctures on the disk, and small, confluent punc- 

 tures along the apical margin; second tergite with moderate, con- 

 fluent punctures throughout, the punctures coarser at the base and 

 sides, clothed with sparse, erect, black pubescence and an apical fringe 

 of long, pale yellowish pubescence; tergites 3-6 with small more or 



