Brazilian Barin/E 233 



This species may be identified readily by its small size, peculiar- 

 ities of vestiture and coarse elytral striation, besides the singular 

 form of the mandibles. 



Centrinaspis Csy. 



The rhombic-oval body in this genus is small to minute in size, 

 and all the species are clothed at least in part with narrow squam- 

 ules, often forming a conspicuous design on the elytra. The beak 

 is long to rather short, evenly arcuate as a rule and is separated 

 from the head by a very feeble to deep and conspicuous reentrant 

 angle; the mandibles are straight within and prominent when 

 closed, but they vary from notably long to very short in form. 

 The antennae are generally notably slender and are medial in 

 insertion, the club abrupt and more or less elongate-oval. The 

 prosternum is squamose throughout, flat to very feebly longitudinally 

 impressed and the coxae are moderately separated. Sexual differ- 

 ences are usually slight, but become remarkably pronounced in 

 some species, such as IcBvicollis. 



The species are very numerous and are distributed probably 

 almost throughout North and South America. The Central Amer- 

 ican forms were all placed under the generic name Gerceus Pasc, 

 by Mr. Champion, but there are two very important and constant 

 structural differences between the two genera. In Centrinaspis the 

 first funicular joint alone is notably elongate, being equal to the 

 next two to three, the second only moderately elongate, and the 

 mandibles are unmodified externally, while in Gerceus the first two 

 of the funicular joints are notably elongated and the mandibles 

 are dentate externally near the base. 



The Brazilian species are assignable to six groups of subgeneric 

 nature as follows: 



Male prosternum bispinose before the anterior coxse A 



Male prosternum strongly ascending from the coxa to the apex and wholly de- 

 void of spiniform processes; sexual characters very feeble B 



A — Scales of the upper surface broader, densely aggregated and generally nearly 

 white in two or three usually interrupted pronotal vittse and, on the elytra, 

 in a more or less angulate common basal area and on each a post-median 

 area, often attaining the suture and sometimes united with the basal area, 

 also sometimes with sublateral vittse, the ground scales usually inconspicuous, 

 but sometimes paler and abundant, uniting the dense areas, which then 

 become rather vague; prosternal spines of the male always moderate I 



Scales of the upper surface somewhat narrower and ochreous to whitish, very 

 uniform in size and density and more or less densely covering the entire 

 surface; male prosternal spines small or moderate and erect; beak rather 

 long, slender and strongly arcuate in both sexes; body frequently minute 

 in size II 



Scales of the upper surface narrow and slender, always well separated and fre- 

 quently sparse, forming two or three loose vittae or sparsely scattered and 

 sometimes almost wanting on the pronotum, arranged usually in short loose 



