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Mealybugs are small, soft-bodied, wingless insects belonging to the family Pseudococcidae, one of about 20 families in the scale insect superfamily Coccoidea. The females are sap-sucking and many of the 2000 species already described are important pests of agricultural crops. Although mealybug populations are normally kept to a tolerable level by natural enemies in their countries of origin, severe outbreaks can occur when species are accidentally introduced into other countries. Many of these outbreaks have been controlled by introducing natural enemies. Mealybugs received increased attention from research workers following the accidental introduction from South America to Africa in 1973 of an undescribed species, which severely threatened the cassava plant. This outbreak in Africa has been controlled successfully by the introduction of natural enemies from South America . The accidental introduction of other injurious mealybugs from Central and South America is becoming increasingly possible, buth the search for natural enemies there would be extremely difficult without a revision of the Central and South American mealybug fauna. This deficiency was a major stimulus to the completion of this book which provides a taxonomic revision of the mealybugs for the entire Neotropical region. The book discusses 49 genera and 282 species of mealybugs from all countries in the Western Hemisphere south of the USA, including the West Indies and Bermuda. Keys to the genera and species are provided, accompanied by illustrations of 269 species. Brief accounts are given of economic importance, morphology, distribution and host-plant records, with reviews of the relevant literature. The work is aimed at entomologists and those concerned with quarantine inspection or the search for natural enemies for biological control.