Cybocephalus kathrynae, T. R. Smith in T. R. Smith & Cave, 2006

Smith, Trevor Randall, 2022, Review of the Cybocephalidae (Coleoptera) of North America and the West Indies with descriptions of two new species of Cybocephalus Erichson, Insecta Mundi 2022 (950), pp. 1-35 : 18

Cybocephalus kathrynae T. R. Smith

( Fig. 93–100 )

Cybocephalus kathrynae T. R. Smith in Smith and Cave 2006a: 783–784.

Distribution. USA (Florida).

Hosts. Unknown.

Remarks. Virtually every specimen collected in Florida has come from sifting sand and leaf litter at the base of grass clumps. A single specimen was found in Florida within a Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) (Formicidae) nest as part of a tropical fire ant faunal study. This ant species is known to tend honeydew-producing insects ( Tschinkel 2006), which may have brought them into contact with C. kathrynae feeding on said homopterans. This is a wingless species; unlike Cybocephalus randalli , no winged phenotypes have been found. Based on this physiological characteristic, pitfall trapping may be an effective collection technique in the proper habitat. Several large series of the wingless phenotypes of C. randalli have been collected in Baja California, Mexico using pitfall traps ( Smith 2020).

Figures

Figures 93–100. Cybocephalus kathrynae T. R. Smith. 93) Antenna. 94) Proleg. 95) Mesoleg. 96) Metaleg. 97) Median lobe. 98) Median lobe, lateral view. 99) Basal plate. 100) Metanotum.