Occapes Townes, 1970

Taxonomic History / Nomenclature
Occapes Townes, 1970: 138. Type species: Occapes sierrae Townes, 1970. Original designation.
Remarks
There were four valid species as of 2012:

Occapes distinctor Aubert, 1998
Occapes hinzi Jussila, 1996
Occapes selandriae (Brischke, 1878)
Occapes sierrae Townes, 1970

Diagnosis and Relationships
The tarsal claws on all legs are distinctly pectinate, and Townes (1970) suggests that this characteristic separates Occapes from all other Euryproctini. The broad and shallow subapical notch is also fairly distinctive.
Description
Clypeus (Fig. 2) broad, with surface punctate; ventral margin evenly convex, blunt; epistomal sulcus broad, shallow, poorly indicated; clypeus in profile (Fig. 1) weakly protruding. Inner eye margins parallel. Malar space (Fig. 2) present but short, less than 0.5 times basal width of mandible; malar sulcus absent. Mandible (Fig. 3) tapering gradually from base to apex; ventral tooth broader and equal in length or very slightly longer than dorsal tooth; ventral margin distinctly carinate. Maxillary palp shorter than height of head; antenna (Fig. 4) shorter than body, first flagellomere (Fig. 4) shorter (vs. second flagellomere) relative to species in genera such as Hadrodactylus. Ocelli small, diameter of lateral ocellus less than distance from lateral ocellus to eye. Hypostomal carina meeting occipital carina a little above base of mandible; occipital carina complete dorsally. Epomia absent, at least in type species. Epicnemial carina reaching anterior margin of mesopleuron. Notaulus present as a shallow but distinct impression on anterior declivity, becoming more faint and on disk. Groove between propodeum and metapleuron absent to very weakly indicated, not u-shaped as in pionines; pleural carina present, often weak to absent or nearly so posteriorly; median longitudinal carinae forming flask-shaped median section with rugose petiolar area (Fig. 5) broad and distinct; lateral longitudinal carina incomplete, usually extending from posterior margin to spiracle or nearly so (Fig 5), transverse carinae absent. Legs with apical margin of mid tibia expanded into a tooth similar to that of fore leg; apical comb on posterior side of hind tibia weakly developed; posterior hind tibial spur about 0.3 times length of hind basitarsus (Fig. 7); tarsal claws distinctly pectinate (Fig. 8); fifth tarsomere of hing leg normal, not unusually elongate (relative to fourth) (Fig. 7). Fore wing (Fig. 6) with areolet absent; stigma moderately broad, Rs+2r arising near midpoint. Hind wing (Fig. 6) with first abscissa of CU1 longer than 1cu-a. T1 relatively short (Figs 9, 10), strongly expanding posteriorly; ventral margin straight in profile; dorsal carinae absent; basal depression at dorsal tendon attachment very weak; dorsal-lateral carina somewhat ventrally displaced, complete between spiracle and apex of T1; glymma absent. S1 not extending to level of spiracle. Laterotergites of T2 and T3 separated by creases from median tergite. Ovipositor and sheath (Figs 1, 11) longer than in Hadrodactylus; ovipositor with exceptionally broad, shallow, dorsal, subapical notch.

The above description is modified from Townes (1970), and based on two specimens in the Texas A&M University collection.

10145_mximage
1. Occapes habitus...
10158_mximage
2.Occapes face
10159_mximage
3.Occapes mandibles
10166_mximage
4. Occapes ...
10167_mximage
5.Occapes propodeum
10165_mximage
6.Occapes wings
10162_mximage
7. Occapes ...
10172_mximage
8. Occapes pectinate cl...
10169_mximage
9.Occapes T1
10168_mximage
10.Occapes F1
10161_mximage
11.Occapes metasoma
 
Distribution
The type species was described from western USA (California), and there are two species known from the Palaearctic (Townes 1970, Aubert 2000: 163) and an additional species from Greenland.
Distribution
No referenced distribution records have been added to the database for this OTU.
Biology / Hosts
Hosts (all Tenthredinidae) are known for Occapes selandriae and these are summarized by Aubert (2000).
Map

There are no specimens currently determined for this OTU, or those specimens determined for this OTU are not yet mappable.

Acknowledgements
This page was assembled by Bob Wharton as part of a larger collaborative effort on the genera of Ctenopelmatinae. Page last updated April, 2015.

This work would not have been possible without the groundwork provided by Ian Gauld’s study of the Australian and Costa Rican faunas, and we are particularly grateful for his assistance in many aspects of this study. We also thank David Wahl of the American Entomological Institute and Andy Bennett of the Canadian National Collection for extended loans of material used in this study. We also thank David Wahl for useful feedback throughout our study. Matt Yoder provided considerable assistance with databasing issues, and our use of PURLs (http://purl.oclc.org) in this regard follows the example of their use in publications by Norm Johnson. Heather Cummins, Andrea Walker, Patricia Mullins, Caitlin Nessner, Amy James, Karl Roeder, Danielle Restuccia, and Cheryl Hyde graciously assisted us with image processing, formatting, and literature retrieval. This study was supported by the National Science Foundation’s PEET program under Grant No. DEB 0328922 and associated REU supplement nos DEB 0723663, 0822676, 0923134, and 1026618.

This material is based upon work at Texas A&M University supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DEB 0328922 with REU supplements DEB DEB 0723663, 0822676, 0923134, and 1026618. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.