DIAPERINI NORTH OF MEXICO — TRIPLEHORN 365 



Anterior margin of pronotum always distinctly, usually deeply, emarginate; 

 antenna long, always extending beyond base of pronotum, outer segments 

 more gradually clavate .... Platydema Laporte and Brulle (p. 389) 



Genus Diaperis Miiller 



Diapcris Geoffroy, 1762, p. 337 (not binomial, see International Commission . . ., 

 Opinion 228, 1954).— MuUer, 1764, p. xv; 1776, pp. xxii, 74.— Fabricius, 1787, 

 p. 21; 1790, p. 216; 1792, p. 516; 1801, p. 585.— Latreille, 1796, p. 21; 1804, 

 p. 306; 1807, p. 176; 1817, p. 301; 1829, p. 29.— Gyllenhal, 1810, p. 549.— 

 Laporte and BruU^, 1831, p. 333.— Laporte, 1840, p. 222.— Redtenbacher, 

 1845, p. 128; 1849, pp. 52, 590; 1858, pp. cvi, 605; 1874, pp. ii, cxviii, 104.— 

 Mulsant, 1854, pp. 200, 205.— Lacordaire, 1859, p. 301.— Thomson, 1859, 

 p. 116; 1864, p. 250.— Jacquelin du Val, 1861, p. 295.— Seidlitz, 1875, p. 96; 

 1891, p. 131; 1894, pp. 508, 512.— Desbrochers, 1902, p. 4.— Everts, 1901, p. 

 256.— Reitter, 1911a, pp. 330, 339.— Gebien, 1925, pp. 142, 155.— Blaisdell, 

 1929, p. 61.— Portevin, 1934, p. 23. 



Type species. — Chrysomela boleti Linnaeus (monobasic). 



Moderate in size, broadly oval, robust, strongly convex, yellowish 

 to reddish with black markings (except D. coccinea Laporte), glabrous, 

 shinmg. Head greatly deflexed, scarcely visible from dorsal view; 

 eyes large, convex, reniform, anterior margins deeply but narrowly 

 emarginate; antennae with basal segment long, robust, second segment 

 very short and cylindrical, third about twice as long as second and 

 slightly expanded apically, segments 4 to 10 strongly transverse, at 

 least twice as broad as long, forming an abrupt, short, loose club, 

 terminal segment globose, feebly attenuate apically; terminal segment 

 of maxillary palpus narrowly oval, flattened, rounded apically. El- 

 ytra punctate-striate, a well defined callosity near middle of basal half. 

 Epipleura broad and flat, abruptly abbreviated at or near last ventral 

 abdominal suture; terminal segment of hindtarsus 1.5 times as long 

 as combined 3 basal segments which are subequal in length. Male 

 genitalia (pi. 1, figs. 2, 3, 7, 8) with lateral lobes fused to form a solid 

 apical sclerite; female genitalia (pi. 1, fig. 6) with a pair of large, 

 heavily sclerotized, toothed lateral processes each bearing a 1-seg- 

 mented stylus. 



The short basal segment of the hindtarsus, the form of the antennae, 

 and the presence of a pair of distinct elytral callosities render this 

 genus quite distinct from other members of the tribe. In addition, 

 it should be mentioned that while the male genitalia do not depart 

 radically from the general pattern in the Diaperini, the large, clawlike 

 lateral processes of the female genitalia are quite distinctive, at least 

 among the North American components of the tribe. 



Within limits, the elytral color pattern is quite useful in the separa- 

 tion of species, despite the fact that several of them possess almost 

 identical color patterns (e.g., D. boleti and D. rufipes; D. maculata and 

 D. calif ornica) . Fortunately none of these similar species are sym- 



767-C59 — 65 2 



