CHAPTER 6
 THE CYBOCEPHALIDAE (COLEOPTERA) OF MEXICO

 Introduction

 Cybocephalid beetles are mainly predators of scale insects (Vinson 1959, Endrody-

Younga 1968, Alvarez and Van Dreische 1998a,b, Smith and Cave 2006b) but have also

been known to feed on whiteflies (Chandra and Avasthy 1978, Kirejtshuk et al. 1997,

Tian and Ramani 2003), and other arthropod pests (Tanaka and Inoue 1980, Endrody-

Younga 1982). Twenty-two species of Cybocephalidae have been described from the

New World, all belonging to the genera Cybocephalus Erichson and Pycnocephalus

Sharp. This is a very poorly studied family of beetles in the Western Hemisphere and

only recently has there been any type of taxonomic study of this group. Smith and Cave

(2006a) recently revised the five species known to occur in America north of Mexico,

and also the Neotropical species occurring in the West Indies and Trinidad (Smith and

Cave 2007). However the Mexican species have never been revised.

 The objectives of this study are to 1) develop techniques for the identification of

the cybocephalids of Mexico, 2) describe new Mexican species, and 3) report the known

distribution of each species known to occur in Mexico.

 Material and Methods

Materials

 For this study, 103 specimens belonging to the genus Cybocephalus and 8

specimens belonging to the genus Pycnocephalus were examined. One female

Cybocephalus specimen from Tampico is at hand, but without associated males its