438 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 117 



Genus Apsida Lacordaire 



Apsida Lacordaire, 1859, p. 309. — Bates, 1873c, p. 15. 

 Hapsida Champion, 1886, p. 211. 



Moderate to large, robust, strongly convex, sliining. Head short 

 and broad; clypeus transversely very broad, not prolonged beyond 

 genae, epistomal margin broadly and feebly emarginate or truncate 

 on level with antennal insertions; eyes rather small, narrow, widely 

 separated both dorsally and ventrally; broadly emarginate anteri- 

 orly; terminal segment of maxillary palpus broadly triangular with 

 outer angle strongly produced; terminal five antennal segments 

 abruptly expanded to form rather compact, flattened club. Pro- 

 sternal process broad and robust between anterior coxae, its apex 

 obtuse, slightly prolonged and broadly rounded behind, sometimes 

 slightly declivitous; mesosternum short, prominently notched ante- 

 riorly for reception of prosternum; epipleura broad, abruptly abbre- 

 viated at or near last ventral abdominal suture; legs moderately 

 long, femora compressed, slightly claviform, tibiae distinctly bov/ed; 

 basal segment of hindtarsus half again as long as following two 

 segments combined and subequal to fourth. 



Type species. — Apsida chrysomelina Lacordaire, 1859, p. 309 (by 

 original designation). 



The abruptly 5-segmented club, broad but short clypeus which is 

 not prolonged beyond genae, and the abbreviated epipleura will, 

 in combination, separate Apsida from all other New World genera 

 of Diaperini. Its Asiatic counterpart is Hemicera Laporte and 

 Brull6, whose members closely resemble our Central American species 

 of Apsida, differing primarily in having the antennal club composed 

 of six rather than five segments. 



This genus, briefly but adequately delimited by Lacordaire, was 

 erected to receive the single species Apsida chrysomelina Lacordaire. 

 His original description is merely a brief summary of characters which 

 separate Apsida, an exclusively neotropical genus, from the Old 

 World genus Hemicera. Bates (1873c) presented a detailed rede- 

 scription of the genus and added four more species. Chevrolat (1877a) 

 described two more species, but these were later placed in synonymy 

 by Champion (1886) who, at the same time, added four more species 

 of his own. At least nine species are represented in the World fauna. 



A wide variation in color, form, and structure exists among species 

 of this genus and affords useful characters for their separation. 

 Coloration varies from the yellowish A. boucardi Bates to the uni- 

 formly dark A. gibbosa Champion. Many species have a series of 



