EPICAUTA DIVERSICORNIS AND ITS ALLIES 
IN THE NEOTROPICAL REGION 
(COLEOP., MELOHLE) 1 
By F. G. Werner 
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University 
Epicauta diversicornis and related species form a 
closely-knit group which can be defined as possessing the 
following characters in the male. Posterior tibiae with a 
row of short teeth internally at the apex. First two an- 
tennal segments enlarged, denuded except for scattered 
erect setae, and shiny, the first not excavated externally 
at the tip. Anterior tibiae with a single spur and an- 
terior tarsi with the first segment flattened, usually shiny 
and expanded. 
All of the known species in the group are moderately 
slender and almost uniform in width (see figure in Cham- 
pion, 1892). Except for size and color there is great 
similarity in all the species. None has been seen less 
than ten millimeters long or more than twenty. Females 
can be known by the distinctive shape and usually can be 
placed by color and locality. All the species have a small 
scutellar and humeral spot on the elytra when fully 
marked. There are several species outside the group 
which have females similar to those in the group so that 
caution should be observed when making determinations. 
Attention should be called to the variation that occurs 
in the width of the first two antennal segments of the 
male. An example is shown in figures 4 and 5, both of 
diversicornis. This much variation occurs also in isth- 
mica and probably in the other species with these seg- 
ments flattened. 
All the known species of Epicauta with the posterior 
tibial comb are restricted to the region from Southwestern 
i Published with a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at 
Harvard College. 
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