Badister (Badister) elegans Le Conte 1880

Badister elegans Le Conte
Badister elegans Le Conte, 1880:165; [type specimen a female, in Le Conte Coll., MCZ No. 5722, bearing a salmon pink label with the number 82 written on it.]. Type locality: Bosque County, Texas (Belfrage) ; (determined from original description).
The only other American species of Badister having a black pronotum and spotted elytra are maculatus and vandykei. If the characters presented in the key to species cannot be satisfactorily interpreted, see tables 60, 61, and 62 which contain data on variation in the ratios W head/W left elytron, W PN wp/L PN, and L PN/L head.
Description of color and microscidpturc. — Male. Kingsville, Texas, (C. T. Reed), [Cornell University Coll.]. Elytra bicolored, orange in basal 1/3, and throughout length of sutural interval and epipleurae, and a preapical area ad
joining suture and extending to stria 4, the rest of elytra black; the following black — head, prothorax (excluding margins), scutellum, and lateral and ventral sclerites of pterothorax, and hind coxae ; the following rufous — labrum, clypeus, mandibles, terminal segment of labial palpus, and antennal segments 3-11; antennal scape, subterminal palpal segments, and femora testaceous, the tarsi and coxae slightly darker. Microsculpture of head and pronotum isodiametric, these structures shining, not iridescent; of elytra, transverse, lines very close together, surface strongly iridescent.
Variation. — The extent of black on the elytra varies from 3/4 to 7/8 of the total length of the elytra; the preapical orange testaceous spot usually terminates laterally in the vicinity of interval 4, but in one specimen examined extends to interval 5, and in another only as far as interval 3.
Data on variation in the following mensural characters and ratios are presented in tables 58-62 — length, width, W head/W 1. elytron, PN : W wp/L, and L PN/L head. Elegans seems to have a longer head and narrower pronotum than is characteristic of maculatns. The pronotum is as in fig. 122. Variation in the shape of the median lobe (figs. 147a-e) is inconsequential.
Distribution. — This species seems to be an inhabitant of the Great Plains, and possibly of the northern portion of the Mexican Plateau.
In addition to the type, I have seen twenty-two males and fortytwo females collected in the following localities.
Arkansas: Hempstead County; Hope. Illinois: "111." Kansas: "Douglas County"; Lawrence. Missouri: Jackson County; Kansas City. Texas: "Tex." Bexar County; San Antonio. "Brazos County." Cameron County; Brownsville. El Paso County; El Paso. Kleberg County; Kingsville. Travis County; Austin. No Locality Data: One male, three females.

Badister (Badister) elegans

Badister elegans is a species of ground beetle in the family Carabidae. It is found in North America.