STATIRA. a 
STATIRA. 
Statira, Lepeletier de St.-Fargeau & Serville, Encycl. méthod. x. p. 479 (1825) ; Lacordaire, Gen. 
Col. v. p. 571. 
Ninety-five species of this genus have been described, and probably almost as many 
again exist unnamed in collections. Statira is perhaps the most characteristic genus 
of Heteromera in Tropical America, and an immense number of species no doubt exist 
there, each limited area possessing numerous representatives. The genus ranges from 
the Middle United States to the Argentine Republic; but its members become much 
fewer in number northwards, six only being known from north of our northern 
boundary. From Central America we have now to record no less than eighty species, 
three or four only of which are at all widely distributed within this area; and one only 
of the total number is known to us from south of our region. Two species from 
the warmer parts of the Old World have also been referred to Statira*. Some of the 
Central-American representatives bear a close resenvblance to various forms of Carabide 
inhabiting the same districts, notably to certain species of Agra, Colpodes, Calleida, 
Euproctus, Dromius, and Leptotrachelus ; others from Tropical South America resemble 
Casnonia. Maklin is the only author who appears to have paid very much attention to 
the Tropical-American Statire ; but he appears to have chiefly confined himself to the 
species of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, most of those catalogued from these countries 
having been described (and some of those of the older authors redescribed) by him. It 
must be remarked that in numerous cases this author has, probably from insufficiency 
of material, placed far too much importance upon colour as a specific character ; and in 
the descriptions of three of his Mexican species (two of which, S. decorata and S. cyani- 
pennis, are here referred to other genera) no mention whatever is made of their more 
important structural characters, though the colour is given at great length. Examples 
found under bark, often not fully mature, are sometimes, as might be expected, lighter 
in colour than those found upon herbage; and wholly castaneous or testaceous forms 
occur of several of the metallic zneous species, as S. glabrata, S. wrata, &c. Other 
species, S. inconstans, S. irregularis, S. nigripennis, &c., are also very inconstant in 
colour, these having the elytra striped or spotted in some examples and unicolorous 
in others. All the species here included in Statira agree in having (so far as can 
be ascertained from an external examination in some cases, as regards the mouth- 
parts) the apical joint of the labial palpi narrow and ovate; the mandibles simply 
unidentate or feebly bifid; the outer lobe of the maxilla comparatively narrow; the 
anterior coxe moderately exserted and not contiguous, the prosternum narrowly raised 
between them, usually to the level of the cox (thus differing from Lagria, Emydodes, 
Arthromacra, and, probably, Eutrapela also); the femora gradually widening from the 
* One of these, S. rufobrunnea, Mars., from Japan, does not belong to this genus as here understood. 
+ Our numerous species from the State of Panama cannot be identified with either of these. ” 
BB 2 
