XVill INTRODUCTION. 
of the plateau of Mexicoand the adjacent country to the northward, Eleodes extending 
as far north as Hudson’s Bay and southwards to the Los Altos region of Guatemala, 
where a single species occurs. The ‘Scaurides,’ with one genus, Argoporis, the 
American representative of the well-known European genus Scaurus, of similar habits 
to the Blaptides, include ten species, most of which are confined to Northern Mexico, 
‘The ‘ Pedinides’ are chiefly represented by one genus, Blapstinus, numerous in species 
(27) in Central America, as well as in other parts of America, north and south. The 
* Opatrides’ have only one typical genus in Central America, and that one of the most 
minute forms known, viz. Cnemeplatia, a genus also occurring in Europe, North Africa, 
Madeira, and North America. The ‘ Helopides’ are represented by a large number of 
species, especially in Mexico and Guatemala, belonging to the three genera Nautes (20), 
Tarpela (51), and Helops (18); the majority of them are much more brightly coloured 
than those inhabiting more northern regions, and the species of Nautes and Tarpela 
(with one or two exceptions) are fully winged. The ‘Trachyscelides, ‘ Crypticides,’ 
and ‘ Apocryphides’ include but few species, all of which live on the ground; amongst 
the Trachyscelides is the familiar genus Phaleria, which is represented on the 
Atlantic and Pacific coasts, one species being common to both. The ‘ Misolampides’ 
include various conspicuous genera, all confined to the forest-region, one of which, 
Hegemona, with no less than eighteen species, is characteristic of the Central-American 
fauna. The‘ 'Tenebrionides,’ ‘ Ulomides,’ ‘ Diaperides,’ ‘ Cnodalonides,’ and ‘ Strongy- 
liides’ are all rich in species in the forest-region, more especially in the “ tierra 
caliente’: the most characteristic genera are Nyctobates—the giants of the family,— 
Zophobas, and Nuptis (Tenebrionides); Ulosonia, Uloma, Sitophagus, and Doliema 
(Ulomides) ; Platydema—exceedingly numerous in species,—Liodema, and Hapsida 
(Diaperides); Acropteron and Cyrtosoma (Cnodalonides) ; Cuphotes (= Spheniscus), 
Pecilesthus, and Strongylium—the last-mentioned with no fewer than sixty-nine species 
(Strongyliides), The ‘Phrenapatides’ include the Passaliform-genus Phrenapates, 
peculiar to Central America and the northern part of South America, and a few small 
allied forms, all of tropical distribution. The ‘ Amarygmides,’ with a single American 
genus, Pyanisia, are represented by a few species, all found in or about fungi on 
rotten wood, usually in gloomy places in the forest. The remaining “groups,” 
the ‘ Bolitophagides,’ ‘Goniaderides,’ ‘ Heterotarsides,’ and ‘Talanides,’ require no 
special comment. Of the entire family Tenebrionide, the most characteristic genera 
of the Mexican and Central-American fauna, are:—of those living upon the ground, 
Asida (Mexico only), Hlwodes (Mexico and Guatemala only), Husattus and Argoporis 
(Mexico only), and Blapstinus ; of those living upon trees or herbage, Zopherus, Noso- 
