AMERICAN HYMKNOPTERA. 81 



THE SPECIES OF ODOIVTOPHOTOPSIS 

 (IIYMEXOPTERA). 



BY HENRY L. VIERECK. 



Of all the Mutillidse the nocturnal species are least known, because 

 of their hahits. Both sexes are on i-ecord of only one North Ameri- 

 can species. The males can he secured as readily as night flying 

 moths, with the aid of a light; hut the finding of the females has 

 been more accidental than otherwise. While in the Upper Sonoran 

 Zone of New Mexico, at Alamogordo, Otero County, the writer 

 obtained many males, which used to fly into the room against the 

 lamp, one or twM) at a time, until after midnight. Not one female 

 was seen, though all likely places were examined. 



Until the sexes of the species are known, oui- classifications of 

 these insects can be temporary only; it is to be hoped that entomo- 

 logists living where these insects make their homes, will endeavor 

 to discover the missing sexes. 



The species of the genus as those in the allied genera vary con- 

 siderably in the structure and sculpture of the males, afl^ording quite 

 a number of characters for separating them. Some of the charac- 

 ters of the species described in the following pages are common to 

 all. The clypeus is concave and polished. The first joint of the 

 flagellum is three fourths the length of the second, a little more or 

 less, the other joints subequal. There is a variable impression on 

 each side of the pronotum, with usually a subtle appearance. The 

 sculpture of the dorsum is always more separated medial ly^than 

 near the sides. The postscutellum usually has a sculpture like that 

 on the scutellum, with a tendency to become rugulose. A longitu- 

 dinal ridge bisects the area on the disc of the metathorax. The 

 structure of the mesopleura is of a uniform character. Beyond the 

 second the segments of the abdomen are finely sculptured. In color 

 the ^species do not deviate very much from each other ; the mandi- 

 bles are invariably tipped with black or dark brown. 



Recent studies have revealed structural characters previously not 

 used in descriptions, of these the function is not known. A few ex- 

 planations concerning some of the terms employed may not l)e super- 



TKANS. AM. ENT. SOC. (11) XXX. MARCH, 1904. 



