New geographical distribution and seasonality of Costalimaita ferruginea (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on Eucalyptus urograndis in Guiricema, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Costalimaita ferruginea (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a voracious defoliator, responsible for big losses associated to eucalyptus plantations. The attack of this pest can be characterized by the appearance of holes in the leaves and consequent fall, which reduces the photosynthetic potential, and thus slows the development of plants attacked. The objective of this research was to report the new occurrence and characterize the period of attack of beetle C. ferruginea in plantations of hybrid Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla (= Eucalyptus urograndis) (Myrtaceae) in municipality of Guiricema, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The period of monitoring started in December 2006 and extended until December 2012. The first attacks of C. ferruginea in this region started in the end of September, and showed a peak of population and greater intensity of damage from mid-October until the second week of November.

The effect of climatic conditions on the seasonality of pest insect populations in Eucalyptus plantations in the Neotropics

“…Coleoptera are sensitive to these environmental changes, as they affect not only abundance, distribution, and abundance but also the structure of their guilds. Among the coleopteran morphospecies found are those in the Costalimaita genus, which are common in Cerrado regions, and those in Lampetis, known to attack newly planted seedlings and young eucalyptus trees in several Brazilian states (Pires et al 2013(Pires et al , 2014Dias et al 2017). The presence of these species was more frequent during the wettest months.…”

How can global climate change influence the geographic distribution of the eucalyptus yellow beetle? Modeling and prediction for Brazil

“…Peaks in temperature influenced in the suitability of a place to the occurrence of C. ferruginea, since that annual temperature variation (bio7) represents the variation between the highest temperature in the hottest trimester (bio5) and the lowest temperature in the coldest trimester (bio6) (Hijmans et al, 2005). Pires et al (2014) related that there was an increase in the population of this chrysomelidae in eucalyptus plantations in the region of Guiricema, Minas Gerais, in periods before the raining period in the region. Since the precipitation can affect the suitability of the environment to the occurrence of C. ferruginea, the retraction of the favorable areas to its occurrence in Amazônia in the period of 2061-2080, in the two considered scenarios, may be explained by the fact that this biome, in the scenario of climate changes, will probably suffer with drier periods and with higher incidence of fires (IPCC, 2014).…”