Abstract

This work assessed the effect of food supplements on the population of the coffee leaf-miner Leucoptera coffeella (Guerin-Meneville & Perrottet) (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) and its natural enemies. The experiment was set up at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in a five-year-old dense, conventional cv. Rubi crop planted in a 2.0 x 0.6 m spacing. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with six treatments and four replications. The treatments were: beer yeast and honey (1:1) at 20%, molasses at 10%, hydrolyzed protein at 2%, hydrolyzed protein at 2% with cartap (20 g a.i./ha) (toxic bait), cartap (20 g a.i./ha) and control (water). The features assessed were: percentage of mined leaves, percentage of mined leaves preyed on by wasps, number of live coffee leaf-miner caterpillars, number of pupae formed per sixty leaves and the percentage of parasitism. The most important parasitoids were Orgilus niger , Centistidea striata , Stiropius reticulatus and Horismenus sp. After application of the toxic bait and cartap insecticide treatments, a reduction in both the total parasite population and per parasitoid species was observed. The results suggest further studies for recommending food supplements as a pest management tactic in coffee crops. Toxic bait used to manage the coffee leaf-miner affected negatively the population of its natural enemies.

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