Four species of land snails are described from Costa Rica and Panama. Two are new species and two have remained poorly known since their first discovery. A fifth species from Mexico and Guatemala is illustrated for comparative purposes because it has not been figured since 1877, and previous figures of it are inadequate for comparative purposes. The Spiraxidae subfamilies and the piraxinae genera are redefined. Rev. Biol. Trop. 58 (1): 195-202. Epub 2010 March 01.