Cyclocephalini, Castelnau, 1840

Ratcliffe, Brett C., Cave, Ronald D. & Mondaca, José, 2021, The Dynastine Scarab Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) of Chile, The Coleopterists Bulletin 75 (2), pp. 279-309 : 285

Tribe Cyclocephalini

The tribe Cyclocephalini contains 16 genera in the New World (except for one species of Cyclocephala introduced into Australia), one genus and two species in western Africa, and Peltonotus Burmeister with 25 species in Asia (Jameson and Jakl 2010; Moore et al. 2018). There are approximately 500 species in the New World, and Chile has two genera, each with a single species. Nearly all cyclocephalines are nocturnal as adults, and most are attracted to lights. The adults of some species are known to feed on the flowers of aroids, palms, magnolias, water lilies, and guava trees and so become inadvertent pollinators.

In general, members of the Cyclocephalini have been characterized by the absence of horns, tubercles, carinae, or foveae, although Paucar-Cabrera and Moore (2018) redefined the tribal circumscription to include Parapucaya Prell and Pucaya Ohaus that have small pronotal tubercles; no stridulatory area on the propygidium; simple mandibles that lack teeth; metatibial apex truncate and lacking non-articulated teeth; and metatarsus with basal joint simple and cylindrical and not subtriangular. Sexual dimorphism is not pronounced, although in those genera where the males have enlarged protarsi and protarsal claws, it is easy to distinguish the sexes.