Metopius pulchellus Cresson, 1865

Taxonomic History / Nomenclature
Metopius (Metopius) pulchellus Cresson, 1865
Remarks
The following were treated as subspecies by Townes and Townes (1959), but these were not recognized as distinct by Carlson (1979):
Metopius (Metopius) pulchellus pulchellus
Thorax ferruginous and yellow. Range: Colorado and Wyoming

Metopius (Metopius) pulchellus montanus
Apical 0.25 +/- of third tergite yellow. Range: Utah and Arizona

Metopius (Metopius) pulchellus sonora
Apical 0.5 +/- of third tergite yellow. Range: New Mexico and Arizona

Diagnosis and Relationships
markup
Lower tooth of mandible absent. Interantennal process of face compressed and with a median carina (Fig. 1). Second recurrent vein with 1 bulla, or rarely with 2. Occipital carina complete, extending moderately close to foramen magnum and reaching hypostomal carina ventrally. Flagellum not short and blunt, its wider segments 1.2 to 1.85 times as wide as long. Claws of front and middle tarsi apparently simple, or sometimes pectinate on their basal 0.3. Yellow on second to fourth tergites of rather even width, wide, narrow, or sometimes absent from second tergite, but not narrow medially and never almost reaching front margin sublaterally. Yellow markings occupying narrow apical margin of second tergite (or sometimes lacking from this tergite), forming a broader apical margin on third tergite, and covering all but base of fourth tergite.
23139_mximage
1. Metopius pulchellus face... ↴
23140_mximage
2. Metopius pulchellus prop... ↴
23141_mximage
3. Metopius pulchellus late... ↴
 
Distribution
See Remarks section.
Distribution
No referenced distribution records have been added to the database for this OTU.
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 and Danielle Restuccia and was supported by the National Science Foundation under PEET grant # DEB 0328922. We thank David Wahl (American Entomological Institute) for extended loans of material used for this study. Images for most of the Nearctic species of Metopius were taken by Aubrey Colvin. Page last updated April, 2014. The material on this page is freely available, but should be acknowledged if used elsewhere.

This material is based upon work at Texas A&M University supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DEB 0328922.
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.