4 May Apus is one of those small and inconsequential constellations adapted from others in 1603 by Johann Bayer, designed to fill in the blanks in the Southern Hemisphere. Apart from several binaries and a faint globular cluster little else is found in this portion of the southern skies. Some say it comes from the Greek apous , meaning without feet, as a reference to a Greek myth about the swallow, which was said to be legless. In 1603 Johann Bayer included it in Uranometria , his book of constellations, and it's been with us ever since. Most of the Bayer stars are fourth and fifth magnitude.
Some observers report a slight colour difference, a reddish primary and an orange companion.
NGC 6101 is a faint globular cluster, with stars no brighter than fourteenth magnitude. The cluster is found nearly 7 due north of gamma Apodis.