34 Z. BOUCEK 



L. leucotelus Walker and L. propinqua Schletterer 



L. egaia Walker and L. coxalis Kirby 



L. opalescens Weld and L. signifera sp. n. 



L. mexicana Walker and L. cayennensis West wood. 



Possibly a similar case is with L. manaica Roman where the southern form is 

 regarded as belonging to the same species. 



In the Americas there is no representative of the groups in which the pronotum 

 bears three transverse carinae or a conspicuous transverse depression in front 

 of the premarginal carina. On the other hand, the American fauna includes many 

 species with a convex pronotum showing no carinae at all and the dorsellum is 

 quite often carinate at the margin, rarely slightly bituberculate (L. hopei, 

 L. pictipyga), but never really bidentate, which is found in many species of the Old 

 World. Also long and slender teeth on the hind femur occur only in three closely 

 related species (of the texana-group) which do not reach South America, but similar 

 forms are commonly encountered in the eastern hemisphere. On the other hand 

 the lower margin of the clypeus often forms only the two lobes, without the median 

 tooth which is present in all species of the Old World. The median tooth is not 

 developed in most species of the texana-group, egaia-group and speifera-group (and 

 in the species of the genus Polistomorpha) , but mostly conspicuous in the species of 

 the hopei-gvoup, affinis-group and cayennensis-gvonp. Broad convex sternites in the 

 males are known only in the speifera and cayennensis groups (and in the equally 

 Neotropical Polistomorpha species). 



Key to the New World species of LEUCOSPIS 



Hind femur extremely stout, on ventral margin with only 4—5 long slender teeth, 



basal tooth small (Text-figs 36, 41) ; body robust, ovipositor extremely short . . 2 



Hind femur less stout, on ventral margin with broad basal tooth followed by 7 or 

 more smaller teeth (Text-figs 43-45) ; body often not very robust, ovipositor 

 never unusually short ........... 4 



Gaster posteriorly black, with orange cross-bands on broadest part and on first 

 tergite (Text-fig. 37); fore wing mostly dark brown; pilosity on thorax whitish, 

 rather short, on gaster laterally each hair hardly reaching beyond next puncture ; 

 thorax laterally and hind legs often reddish; punctu ration of body coarser than 

 in alternate; south-east U.S.A. ..... slossonae Weld (p. 42) 



Gaster posteriorly with extensive yellow markings consisting of a broad band on 

 fifth tergite and at least another narrower band on sixth tergite (Text-fig. 38) ; 

 fore wing pale brown but usually slightly darker anteriorly and apically; pilosity 

 otherwise, mostly much longer than in alternate; puncturation not very coarse 

 but often rather dense; south-west U.S.A. and Mexico ..... 3 



First tergite in both sexes extensively yellow; epipygium in $ black; pronotum 

 posteriorly with broad yellow band, its sides and legs extensively red; punctura- 

 tion on disc of fifth tergite often longitudinally confluent but transversely with 

 interspaces generally broader than half width of punctures; fourth tergite in § 

 medially with punctures in about 4 cross-rows; hairs on pronotum and gaster 

 mainly pale, fairly long, not very dense ; wings usually yellowish ; in <$ scape partly 

 yellow .......... texana Cresson (p. 40) 



