FAM. MEMBRACIDyE i65 



142. GENUS TROPIDASPIS Stal 



Tropidaspis Stal, Hem. Fabr. II : 56 (1869). 



Characters : Small. elongate insects with a bituberculate head, no posterior process, convex 

 unarmed pronotum, highly elevated scutellum and with only two apical cells in the hind wings. Head 

 subquadrate, roughly sculptured, slightly broader than high; base highly elevated and bearing two 

 large rounded lobes, deeply sulcate between ; eyes large and globular; ocelli large, prominent, situated in 

 extreme upper outer corners of the head at the lateral bases of the basal lobes; inferior margins of genae 

 very short and straight; clypeus very broad, flattened, expanded and foliaceous, extending for at least 

 three-fourths its length below inferior margins of genae, tip broadly rounded. Pronotum convex, 

 without processes of any kind; extended downward in a flat plate behind the eyes; metopidium sloping, 

 broader than high; median carina distinctly percurrent; humeral angles broad, greatly produced, round- 

 ed, blunt; scutellum highl}' elevated, tectiform, strongly and sharply carinate, triangular, about twice 

 as long as its width at base, base swollen, tip gradually acuminate and extending just to the inteinal 

 angles of the tegmina. Tegmina hyaHne; tips broadly rounded; base coriaceous and punctate; veins 

 strong and heavy; both corium and clavus entirely exposed; apical portion of clavus gradually acute; 

 five apical and no discoidal cells; no apical limbus. Hind wings with only two apical cells and no dis- 

 coidal cells. Legs simple, femora cyUndrical, tibiag angulate, hind tarsi longest and sometimes bearing 

 accessory lateral spines. 



Type carinata Fabricius. 



Geographical distrlbutlon : Tropidapsis seems to have a rather wide distribution in Central 

 and south .■\merica as foUows : 



1. affinis Fowler, B. C. A. II : 169. 1 (1897). Panama, Trinidad, West In- 



dies. 



2. cariiiata Fabricius, Syst. Rhyng. 21. 29 (i8o3). — Pl. 9, flg. I 24. Brazil, Peru, British Guiana. 



3. cornuta Haviland, Zoologica VI : 3. 261 (1925). British Guiana. 



4. jubata Goding, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. LII : 889. 104 (1926). Ecuador. 



5. minor Haviland, Zoologica VI : 3. 2^9 (1925). British Guiana, Ecuador. 



6. truucaticornis Goding, Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc. XXV : 187 (1927). DutchGuiana, British Guiana, 



Brazil, Panama, Guatemala. 



143. GENUS NICOMIA STAL 



Nlcomia Stal, Ofv. Vet. Akad. Forh. XXIV : 249 (i858). 



Characters : Small, inconspicuous insects without a posterior process, with a convex unarmed 

 pronotum and characterized particularly by the large number of irregular cells in the tegmina of which 

 seven or more are on the apical margin. Head subquadrate, wider than high, somewhat deflexed ; base 

 bituberculate, notched in middle; eyes large, prominent, globular; ocelli smaU, much farther from each 

 other than from the eyes and situated well above a line drawn through centers of eyes ; inferior margins of 

 genae straight; clypeus extending for about half its length below inferior margins of genae. Pronotum 

 convex, without processes of any kind ; metopidium sloping, wider than high ; median carina percurrent ; 

 humeral angles prominent, roundcd, blunt; posterior end of pronotum truncate and then slightly pro- 



