Centris

The genus Centris contains circa 250 species of large apid bees occurring in the Neotropical and Nearctic regions, from Kansas to Argentina. Most females of these bees possess adaptations for carrying floral oils rather than (or in addition to) pollen or nectar. They visit mainly plants of the family Malpighiaceae to collect oil, but also Plantaginaceae, Calceolariaceae, Krameriaceae and others. Recent studies have shown they are sister to the corbiculate bees, the most well-known and economically important group of bees

They are large (up to 3 cm), fast-flying bees, distinguished from the closely related genus Epicharis by the absence of long, whip-like setae that project backwards from just behind the eyes. They are commonly encountered bees in American deserts, and are active at very high ambient temperatures when many other species are in hiding. They can often be seen in large numbers on desert-willow (Chilopsis) and palo verde (Parkinsonia) blossoms. Bees of this genus are of some economical significance in pollinating crops such as Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa) and Cashew (Anacardium occidentale, pollinated by C. tarsata among others).

Macintosh Quadra 610

The Macintosh Quadra 610 and Macintosh Centris 610 are two closely related personal computers that are a part of Apple Computer's Quadra and Centris series of Macintosh computers, respectively. When the Centris 610 was introduced in February 1993 alongside the larger Centris 650, it was intended as the start of the new midrange Centris line of computers. However, that proved confusing, and the Centris 610 was renamed to Quadra 610 in October 1993, and the CPU was upgraded from a 20 MHz 68LC040 to a full 68040 at 25 MHz - although there was one configuration, the Quadra 610 8/160, that retained the 68LC040. The Quadra 610 was discontinued in favor of the Quadra 630 in July 1994.

The 610 came in a new "pizza box" case. It was later also used for the Centris / Quadra 660AV and the Power Macintosh 6100. The Quadra 610 was also available in a "DOS compatible" model with an additional 486SX processor at 25 MHz on a Processor Direct Slot card.

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Macintosh Quadra 650

The Macintosh Quadra 650 and the Macintosh Centris 650 are two closely related personal computers that are a part of Apple Computer's Quadra and Centris series of Macintosh computers, respectively. When the Centris 650 was introduced in February 1993 alongside the smaller Centris 610, it was intended as the start of the new midrange Centris line of computers, a niche formerly occupied by the Quadra 700 which was discontinued. However, that proved confusing, and the Centris 650 was renamed to Quadra 650 in October 1993, with the CPU upgraded from a 25 MHz to 33 MHz. The Quadra 650 was discontinued without a direct replacement in September 1994, although the Power Macintosh 7100, introduced a few months earlier, which used the same case as the 650 (originally used on the Macintosh IIvx), had a similar target audience.

There are two versions of the Centris 650: One with 4 MB of RAM soldered to the logic board and an FPU-less Motorola 68LC040 CPU, and one with 8 MB of logic board RAM, a full Motorola 68040, and added an onboard AAUI port for Ethernet. The higher-end model also came with 1MB VRAM installed, enabling 16-bit color at 640x480 resolution. The availability of 16-bit color was significant, as it was the standard bit depth of Apple's then-new QuickTime video standard. The Quadra 650 is also available in the 4 MB and 8 MB onboard RAM variations, but always has the 68040 and AAUI.