DIAPERINI NORTH OF MEXICO — TRIPLEHORN 389 



the beetle is of Old World origin, but there is no evidence to support 

 such a conjecture. 



Type. — USNM 46S06 (Casey collection); type locality, Florida. 

 The specimen has the entire area between prosternum and abdomen 

 obscured by the mounting medium; otherwise, all characters are 

 clearly evident. 



Specimexs examined. — From the following locahties, 17: 



United States: Florida (Key West, Tampa (from Mariel, Cuba)). 



Bahama Island: Nassau. 



Leeward Island: Montserrat. 



Jamaica: Kingston. 



Puerto Rico: Ponce, San Juan. 



Genus Platydema Laporte and Brulle 



Platydema Laporte and Brull^, 1831, pp. 332, 350.— Redtenbacher, 184.5, p. 128; 

 1849, pp. 52, 591; 1858, pp. cvi, 604; 1874, pp. cxviii, ii, 106.— Mulsant, 

 1854, pp. 200, 211. — Thomson, 1859, p. 116; 1864, p. 252.— Lacordaire, 

 1859, p. 304.— Jacquelin du Val, 1861, p. 297.— Horn, 1870, p. 380.— Seidhtz, 

 1875, p. 97; 1891, pp. 131, 516; 1894, pp. 508, 518,— Champion, 1886, p. 

 181.— Desbrochers, 1902, p. 7.— Blatchley, 1910, p. 1262.— Reitter, 1911a, 

 pp. 330, 339.— Chatanay, 1914, pp. 475, 484.— Carter, 1917, p. 702.— 

 Gebien, 1920, p. 25; 1925, pp. 143, 539.— Portevin, 1934, p. 25. 



Typhobia Pascoe, 1869, p. 279. 



Neomida Motschoulsky, 1873, p. 476 (not Latreille, 1829). — Melsheimer, 1846, 

 p. 61. 



Hisieropsis Chevrolat, 1878b, p. 221. 



Type species. — Platydema dejeani Laporte and Brull6 (original 

 designation). 



Elongate oval to broadly oval, moderatel}^ convex, strongly shining 

 to dull and lustreless. Eyes moderate to large, emarginate ante- 

 riorly; antennae relatively slender, slightly clavate, segments 5 to 10 

 subequal in size or becoming increasingly broader. Prosternal pro- 

 cess prominent, prolonged caudally horizontal or deflected behind 

 front coxae; mesosternum deeply excavate anteriorly for reception 

 of prosternal process; anterior extension of basal abdominal sternite 

 acute between hindcoxae; epipleura entire or abbreviated very close 

 to elytral apices; hindtarsi long, basal segment longer than two 

 following segments combined and usually longer than terminal one; 

 tibiae all relatively slender. 



This is by far the largest genus included in the Diaperini, con- 

 taining 281 species (Gebien, 1940), distributed throughout the world. 

 An all-encompassing diagnostic description of the generic characters 

 involved vrould be impossible at this time. The above description 

 is based largely on the Nearctic species supplemented by a number 

 of Central and South American components. Only a few Old World 



