Effect of plantation age on diversity and population fluctuation of Lepidoptera collected in Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil

Abstract

A faunistic survey of Lepidoptera associated with eucalyptus was carried out from June 1989 to June 1994 in a plantation at the Vale do Rio Doce Region, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Insects were collected every fifteen days with five light traps and divided in primary, secondary and non-pests of eucalyptus as well as a group of nonidentified morphospecies. Twelve primary pests with 5823 individuals; 17 secondary pests with 2757 individuals; 148 non-pests with 8856 individuals and 1179 unidentified morphospecies with 11,834 individuals were collected. The most abundant primary pest species were Stenalcidia grosica and Glena unipennaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) while Eacles imperialis magnifica and Automeris illustris (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) and Idalus admirabilis (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) were the most abundant secondary species. Differences in numbers of individuals trapped were significantly higher between locations of light traps than between years. There were significantly more species in the last years of this study, but the number of specimens was similar for all years. These results indicate a high environmental stability and suggest that this region is one of the most suitable areas for Eucalyptus plantation in Brazil.