248 FAMILY VI. ACRIDID^E. THE LOCUSTS. 



carina usually present, sometimes obsolete in front of the impres- 

 sion ; foveoke present, rather large, shallow, rhomboidal or trian- 

 gular; antennae about as long as head and pronotum together; 

 pronoturn with its front margin usually bluntly angulate and pro- 

 duced forward upon, the posterior third of occiput, median carina 

 compressed, higher than usual, not or very feebly cut by the prin- 

 cipal transverse sulcus; lateral carinse rounded, distinct only on 

 metazona; lateral lobes deeper than long, their front margin 

 slightly sinuate, hind one more or less oblique, lower one with 

 front half obliquely ascending, its posterior angle rather broadly 

 rounded; tegmina somewhat leathery in texture, densely and 

 irregularly reticulate, the apical third only with distinct cells or 

 spaces between the venules ; intercalary vein closer to median than 

 to ulnar vein; wings brightly colored, yellow or red at base; hind 

 femora stout, their basal halves depressed and dilated; valves of 

 ovipositor moderately exserted, the upper ones with their apical 

 halves slightly inturned and narrowly spoon-shaped. 



Kirby (1910, 194) accredits 34 species to the genus, 24 of them 

 being from the United States, the others from Mexico and Cen- 

 tral America. A number of his names are synonyms, it being 

 doubtful if over a dozen valid species occur in the United States. 

 Of these only four are known from our territory. 



KEY TO EASTERN SPECIES OF ABPHIA. 



a. Frontal costa with sides subparallel, scarcely narrowed above the an- 

 tennae, feebly or not at all sulcate. 



l>. Median carina of pronotum cristate, not cut by the principal sul- 

 cus, viewed in profile distinctly arched; front margin of disk 

 of pronotum obtusely-angled, hind one acute-angled ( Fig. 



90, b.) 106. XAXTHOPTEKA. 



bit. Median carina of pronotum but little elevated, almost straight, 

 cut near the middle but not notched; front margin of disk ob- 

 tusely or scarcely at all angulate. 



e. Metazona thickly granulated, its hind margin acute-angled; 

 concavity of vertex with median carina faint or wanting; 

 frontal costa without trace of median carina on upper third; 

 basal portion of wings yellow. 107. GRANTJLATA. 



cc. Metazona with only a few small scattered granules, its hind 

 margin obtuse-angled; concavity of vertex very deep, its me- 

 dian carina distinct, interrupted by the cross impression; 

 frontal costa with a more or less distinct median carina on 

 upper third; base of wings deep red, rarely yellow. 



108. PSEUDOXIETAXA. 



act. Frontal costa with sides converging above the antennae, almost meet- 

 ing at point of union with the vertex, distinctly sulcate below the 

 ocellus; median carina of pronotum low, nearly straight, entire 

 (Fig. 90, a); foveolse broader than long. 109. SULPHUREA. 



